Non-volatile semiconductor memory device and method of manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

A MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which is capable of electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data, the memory device including source/drain regions, a first gate insulating layer, a first charge trapping layer formed on the first gate insulating layer, a second gate insulating layer formed on the first charge trapping layer, and a controlling electrode formed on the second gate insulating layer. The first charge trapping layer includes an insulating film containing Al and O as major elements and having a defect pair formed of a complex of an interstitial O atom and a tetravalent cationic atom substituting for an Al atom, the insulating film also having electron unoccupied levels within the range of 2 eV-6 eV as measured from the valence band maximum of Al 2 O 3 .

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-248024, filed Sep. 25, 2007,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a non-volatile semiconductor memorydevice and a method of manufacturing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

A NAND type flash memory having a floating gate is now confronted with aproblem that the structure of memory cell (cell transistor) has to bechanged because of the generation of interference between theneighboring cells and the difficulty in embedding an insulating filmbetween the neighboring cells, owing to the persistent trend to furtherincrease the fineness of a cell pattern.

A memory cell having a charge trapping layer consisting of an insulatingfilm is considered as the most prospective as a structure of a memorycell of the next generation wherein the gate length is in the order of20 nm. The memory cell of this sort is generally called a Metal/Oxidefilm/Nitride film/Oxide film/Semiconductor (MONOS). This MONOS memorycell is configured to have a gate stack structure, which is formed on achannel between source/drain diffusion regions formed in a surfaceregion of a Si substrate, and is constituted by a tunnel insulating filmfor passing a writing/erasing charge, a silicon nitride film functioningas a charge trapping layer, a silicon oxide film functioning as aninsulating film which is capable of obstructing electric current, and agate electrode formed on the silicon oxide film and made of a metal.This MONOS memory cell is constructed as a planar cell, therebyovercoming the aforementioned problem with which the conventionalfloating gate type NAND flash memory has been troubled.

In this MONOS memory cell or in the conventional floating gate typememory cell, the employment of an alumina-based high-dielectric constantfilm is now studied in order to inhibit a high field leak current byincreasing the film thickness of the block insulating film and bydecreasing the effective electric field by enabling a portion of theblock insulating film to trap electrons or in order to inhibit theinter-cell interference by decreasing EOT through the thinning of thefilm thickness of the charge trapping layer by increasing the trappingdensity of the charge trapping layer.

The MONOS memory cell, however, is still accompanied with many problemsto be solved in terms of performance, such as the magnitude of variationof threshold voltage (hereinafter referred to simply as Vth),write/erase endurance and data retention characteristics. In addition tothese problems, the MONOS memory cell is also accompanied with a problemthat the threshold voltage thereof employed on the occasions of writingand erasing does not adapted to threshold voltage which is required whenthe MONOS memory cell is utilized as a NAND type flash memory which issuited for use as a memory of high density.

As a matter of fact, in the case of the NAND type flash memory, thethreshold voltage after the writing operation is required to be Vth>0and the threshold voltage after the erasing operation is required to beVth<0. Whereas, in the case of the NOR type flash memory, the thresholdvoltage after the writing as well as after the erasing is generallyrequired to be Vth>0. Even in the case of the MONOS memory device havingmost excellent in performance now, it cannot secure a sufficiently largenegative Vth as a threshold voltage after the erasing, even though theVth after the writing can be sufficiently increased. Thus, it cannotrealize so-called over-erasing of charge.

Accordingly, even though the MONOS memory device can be easily appliedto the NOR type flash memory, there is still a problem of the adjustmentof threshold voltage if the MONOS memory device is to be applied to theNAND type flash memory.

Although it is of course conceivable, for the adjustment of thethreshold voltage, to adopt a method wherein the dopant impurityconcentration in the channel region of a Si substrate is adjusted, itwill lead to a prominent increase in short channel effects as thefineness of memory cell is further advanced, thereby necessitating theraising of the neutral threshold voltage (the initial threshold voltagebefore writing/erasing) in order to suppress the short channel effects.On the other hand, as described above, since there is an increasingtrend to lower the neutral threshold voltage in the operation of theNAND type flash memory, the aforementioned method goes against thistrend to lower the neutral threshold voltage as there are persistentrequirements to further enhance the fineness of the memory cell, thusindicating that the aforementioned problem cannot be solved simplythrough the adjustment of dopant impurity concentration in the channelregion.

In addition to these problems, the MONOS memory cell is also required toexhibit so-called field relaxation effects. Namely, a plurality of blocklayers are laminated so as to provide a layer for accumulating anegative (fixed) charge in the block layers, thereby relaxing theelectric field at the interfaces of the opposite ends of the blockinsulating films on the occasion of a writing/erasing operation(especially, on the occasion of an erasing operation) of the memorycell. As a result of the field relaxation effects, the generation ofleakage current from a controlling electrode can be minimized, thusrealizing high-speed erasing. One example of doping boron in a casewhere a silicon nitride film is employed is described in JP-A2004-363329. This patent document discloses in detail about thetheoretical background for realizing high-speed erasing through therelaxation of electric field.

Other than the aforementioned requirements, it is of course required tocreate a design prescription for the material itself for building upelectron trap levels which are suited for the trap (writing) ordetrapping (erasing) or retention of charge which is most important as acharge trapping layer.

As described above, in the case where an alumina-based insulating filmis employed, there is a problem that there is no clear designprescription for the material for building up deep electron trap levels(for relaxing electric field) which are suited for the block insulatingfilm, for building up defect levels having the depth which is suited forboth writing/erasing required for the charge trapping layer (forefficient writing/erasing/retention characteristics), or for building upelectron occupied levels which are capable of adjusting the threshold byway of over-erasing which is applicable to the NAND type flash memory(over-erasing directivity).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor memorydevice which is capable of adjusting the electron-trapping/detrappingproperties in conformity with an object aimed at by the reforming of aninsulating film, i.e. by the build-up of desired defect levels in theinsulating film, thereby making it possible to cope with the relaxationof electric field, the efficient writing/erasing/retention operations ofcharge, and the over-erasing of charge, respectively.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofmanufacturing such a semiconductor memory device as described above.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which is capableof electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data, the memorydevice comprising: source/drain regions formed in a semiconductorsubstrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on a channel regionlocated between the source/drain regions; a first charge trapping layerformed on the first gate insulating layer, including an insulating filmcontaining Al and O as major elements and having a defect pair formed asa complex of an interstitial O atom and a tetravalent cationic atomsubstituting for an Al atom, or a defect pair formed as a complex of anoxygen vacancy and N atom(s) substituting for an O atom, the insulatingfilm also having electron unoccupied levels within a range of 2 eV-6 eVfrom a valence band maximum of Al₂O₃; a second gate insulating layerformed on the first charge trapping layer and having a larger filmthickness than that of the first gate insulating layer; and acontrolling electrode formed on the second gate insulating layer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda floating gate type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which iscapable of electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data,the memory device comprising: source/drain regions formed in asemiconductor substrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on achannel region located between the source/drain regions; a floating gateelectrode functioning as a first charge trapping layer and formed on thefirst gate insulating layer; a second gate insulating layer including afirst silicon nitride film formed on the first charge trapping layer anda first silicon oxide film formed on the first silicon nitride film; asecond charge trapping layer formed on the second gate insulating layer,including an insulating film containing Al and O as major elements andhaving a defect pair formed as a complex of an interstitial O atom and atetravalent cationic atom substituting for an Al atom, or a defect pairformed as a complex of an oxygen vacancy and an N atom(s) substitutingfor an O atom, the insulating film also having electron unoccupiedlevels within a range of 2 eV-6 eV from a valence band maximum of Al₂O₃;a third gate insulating layer including a second silicon oxide filmformed on the second charge trapping layer and a second silicon nitridefilm formed on the second silicon oxide film; and a controllingelectrode formed on the third gate insulating layer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which is capableof electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data, the memorydevice comprising: source/drain regions formed in a semiconductorsubstrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on a channel regionlocated between the source/drain regions; a first charge trapping layerformed on the first gate insulating layer; a second gate insulatinglayer formed on the first charge trapping layer, having a larger filmthickness than that of the first gate insulating layer, and including aninsulating film containing Al and O as major elements, the insulatingfilm containing, in a region of the second gate insulating layer whichis located near the first charge trapping layer, Al vacancy,interstitial O atom, N atom substituting for O atom, or divalentcationic atom substituting for Al atom, and having electron unoccupiedlevels within a range of 2 eV from a valence band maximum of Al₂O₃; anda controlling electrode formed on the second gate insulating layer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which is capableof electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data, the memorydevice comprising: source/drain regions formed in a semiconductorsubstrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on a channel regionlocated between the source/drain regions; a first charge trapping layerformed on the first gate insulating layer; a second gate insulatinglayer formed on the first charge trapping layer, having a larger filmthickness than that of the first gate insulating layer, and including aninsulating film containing Al and O as major elements, the insulatingfilm comprising a first insulating film, a second insulating film formedon the first insulating film and functioning as a second charge trappinglayer, and a third insulating film formed on the second insulating filmand having a larger thickness than that of the first gate insulatinglayer, the second insulating film contains Al and O as major elementsand having Al vacancy, interstitial O atom, N atom substituting for Oatom, or divalent cationic atom substituting for Al atom, the secondinsulating film also having electron unoccupied levels within a range of2 eV from a valence band maximum of Al₂O₃; and a controlling electrodeformed on the second gate insulating layer.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda floating gate type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which iscapable of electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data,the memory device comprising: source/drain regions formed in asemiconductor substrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on achannel region located between the source/drain regions; a floating gateelectrode functioning as a first charge trapping layer and formed on thefirst gate insulating layer; a second gate insulating layer including afirst silicon nitride film formed on the first charge trapping layer anda first silicon oxide film formed on the first silicon nitride film; asecond charge trapping layer formed on the second gate insulating layer,and including an insulating film containing Al and O as major elements,the insulating film having Al vacancy, interstitial O atom, N atomsubstituting for O atom, or divalent cationic atom substituting for Alatom, the insulating film also having electron unoccupied levels withina range of 2 eV from a valence band maximum of Al₂O₃; a third gateinsulating layer including a second silicon oxide film formed on thesecond charge trapping layer and a second silicon nitride film formed onthe second silicon oxide film; and a controlling electrode formed on thethird gate insulating layer.

According to a sixth aspect of the present inventicn, there is provideda MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory device which is capableof electrically writing, erasing, reading and retaining data, the memorydevice comprising: source/drain regions formed in a semiconductorsubstrate; a first gate insulating layer formed on a channel regionlocated between the source/drain regions; a first charge trapping layerformed on the first gate insulating layer, and including an insulatingfilm containing Al and O as major elements and having a tetravalentcationic atom substituting for an Al atom, a pentavalent cationic atomsubstituting for an Al atom, interstitial trivalent cation atom,interstitial tetravalent cation atom, interstitial pentavalent cationatom, or oxygen vacancy, the insulating film also having electronoccupied levels in the band gap of Al₂O₃; a second gate insulating layerformed on the first charge trapping layer and having a larger filmthickness than that of the first gate insulating layer; and acontrolling electrode formed on the second gate insulating layer.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of manufacturing the non-volatile semiconductor memorydevice which is set forth in the aforementioned first or second aspectof the present invention, the method comprising forming the insulatingfilm containing Al and O as major elements by oxidizing an insulatingfilm containing Al, O and tetravalent cationic atoms under anAl-oxidizing condition neighboring on an Al-oxidation-reduction boundarycondition and under around tetravalent cationic atom-oxidation-reductionboundary condition, thereby creating a vacancy pair formed as a complexof an interstitial O atom and tetravalent cationic atom substituting foran Al atom.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of manufacturing the non-volatile semiconductor memorydevice which is set forth in one of the aforementioned third to fifthaspects of the present invention, the method comprising forming theinsulating film containing Al and O as major elements by a processincluding mixing a source gas for the insulating film with an atomselected from the group consisting of He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe to obtain amixture; forming a film by making use of the mixture; and subjecting thefilm to a post-oxidation treatment to eliminate He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xeatoms and, at the same time, to replenish O vacancy in the film withoxygen, thereby creating an Al vacancy selectively.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing the non-volatile semiconductor memory devicewhich is set forth in one of the aforementioned third to fifth aspectsof the present invention, the method comprising forming the insulatingfilm containing Al and O as major elements by a process includingforming an Al—OH bond in the insulating film by feeding H₂ or H₂O at thetime of forming the insulating film; and subjecting the insulating filmto a post-heat treatment to thereby eliminate the H atom from the Al—OHbond, thus creating an Al vacancy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIGS. 1A and 1B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIGS. 2A and 2B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIGS. 3A and 3B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIGS. 4A and 4B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIGS. 5A and 5B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIGS. 6A and 6B each show a cross-sectional view illustrating oneexample of the manufacturing method of a cell structure representing onereference example;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the reforming ofalumina film according to the present invention and the principle ofimproving the memory characteristics;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of energy levels illustrating the defects which areeffective in improving the memory characteristics, which can be achievedthrough the control of the defects of alumina film according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of one-electron energy levels illustrating thedefects which are effective in improving the memory characteristics thatcan be achieved through the control of the defects of alumina filmaccording to the present invention and the defects which are ineffectivein improving the memory characteristics;

FIG. 10A is a diagram of one-electron energy levels illustrating thedefects which are effective in improving the memory characteristics thatcan be achieved through the control of the defects of alumina filmaccording to the present invention, wherein the case where a tetravalenttypical element was incorporated and the case where a tetravalenttransition metal element was incorporated are shown;

FIG. 10B is a diagram of one-electron levels illustrating the defectswhich are effective in improving the memory characteristics that can beachieved through the control of the defects of alumina film according tothe present invention, wherein the case where divalent cationic elementwas incorporated is shown;

FIG. 11 is a graph of a Gibbs free energy of formation of typicalelements related to the present invention, illustrating theoxidation-reduction conditions which are required for controlling thedefects of alumina film according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of afloating gate type memory cell;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band condition;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band condition;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of a MONOStype memory cell;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of a MONOStype memory cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of afloating gate type memory cell according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band conditionaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band conditionaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of a MONOStype memory cell according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of afloating gate type memory cell according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band conditionaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of afloating gate type memory cell then setting to the flat band conditionaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating a charge neutral condition of a MONOStype memory cell according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a condition after writing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a condition after erasing of a MONOStype memory cell then setting to the flat band condition according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a table wherein all embodiments of the present invention aresummarized;

FIG. 34 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 1;

FIG. 35 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification exampleof the cell structure of Example 1;

FIG. 36 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 2;

FIG. 37 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 3;

FIG. 38 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification exampleof the cell structure of Example 3;

FIG. 39 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 4;

FIG. 40 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification exampleof the cell structure of Example 4;

FIG. 41 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 5; and

FIG. 42 shows a cross-sectional view illustrating the cell structureaccording to Example 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Next, various embodiments of the present invention will be explained.

In the case of the MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory deviceaccording to the first aspect of the present invention, the first chargetrapping layer formed on the first gate insulating layer includes aninsulating film containing Al and O as major elements and having adefect pair formed of a complex of an interstitial O atom and atetravalent cationic atom substituting for an Al atom, or a defect pairformed of a complex of an oxygen vacancy and N atom substituting for anO atom, wherein the insulating film has also an electron unoccupiedlevels within the range of 2 eV-6 eV from the of the valence bandmaximum of Al₂O₃.

In the case of the floating gate type non-volatile semiconductor memorydevice according to the second aspect of the present invention, thesecond charge trapping layer formed on the second gate insulating filmincludes an insulating film containing Al and O as major elements andhaving a defect pair formed of a complex of an interstitial O atom and atetravalent cationic atom substituting for an Al atom, or a defect pairformed of a complex of an oxygen vacancy and N atom substituting for anO atom, wherein the insulating film has also an electron unoccupiedlevels within the range of 2 eV-6 eV from the of the valence bandmaximum of Al₂O₃.

In the case of the MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory deviceaccording to the third aspect of the present invention, the second gateinsulating layer includes an insulating film containing Al and O asmajor elements and having, in a region of the second gate insulatinglayer which is located near an interface between the first chargetrapping layer and the second gate insulating layer, Al vacancy,interstitial O atom, N atom substituting for O atom, or divalentcationic atom substituting for Al atom, wherein the insulating film hasalso an electron unoccupied levels within the range of 2 eV from thevalence band maximum of Al₂O₃.

In the case of the MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory deviceaccording to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the second gateinsulating layer includes an insulating film containing Al and O asmajor elements and comprising a first insulating film, a secondinsulating film formed on the first insulating film and functioning as asecond charge trapping layer, and a third insulating film formed on thesecond insulating film and having a larger thickness than that of thefirst gate insulating layer, wherein the second insulating film containsAl and O as major elements and having Al vacancy, interstitial O atom, Natom substituting for O atom, or divalent cationic atom substituting forAl atom, the second insulating film having also an electron unoccupiedlevels within the range of 2 eV from the valence band maximum of Al₂O₃.

In the case of the floating gate type non-volatile semiconductor memorydevice according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, thesecond charge trapping layer formed on the second gate insulating layerincludes an insulating film containing Al and O as major elements andhaving Al vacancy, interstitial O atom and N atom substituting for Oatom or divalent cationic atom substituting for Al atom, wherein theinsulating film has also an electron unoccupied levels within the rangeof 2 eV from the valence band maximum of Al₂O₃.

In the case of the MONOS type non-volatile semiconductor memory deviceaccording to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the first chargetrapping layer formed on the first gate insulating layer includes aninsulating film containing Al and O as major elements and having atetravalent cationic atom substituting for an Al atom, a pentavalentcationic atom substituting for an Al atom, interstitial trivalent cationatom, interstitial tetravalent cation atom, interstitial pentavalentcation atom, or oxygen vacancy, wherein the insulating film has also anelectron occupied levels in the band gap of Al₂O₃.

In the cases of the non-volatile semiconductor memory devices accordingto the first through sixth aspects of the present invention, theelectron unoccupied levels or the electron occupied levels may have aarea density of less than 8×10¹³ levels/cm² and more than 8×10¹¹levels/cm².

Further, the divalent cationic atom, the tetravalent cationic atom orthe pentavalent cationic atom may be contained in the insulating film toform a uniform solid solution or dispersed in the insulating film as anoxide or oxynitride.

Further, the divalent cationic atom may be selected from the groupconsisting of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba. The tetravalent cationic atom may beselected from the group consisting of Si, Hf, Zr and Ti. The pentavalentcationic atom may be selected from the group consisting of V, Nb and Ta.

According to the aforementioned first through sixth aspects of thepresent invention, due to the reforming of the insulating film, i.e. theincorporation of desired defect levels in the insulating film, it ispossible to adjust the charge-trapping/detrapping characteristics inconformity with the object of use, thereby making it possible to providea semiconductor memory device which is capable of suitably coping withthe relaxation of electric field, the efficient characteristics forwriting/erasing/retention of charge and for over-erasing of charge.

Especially, in the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to a portion ofthe blocking layer or trapping layer of a MONOS type memory cell or to aportion of the floating gate layer of a floating gate type memory cell,a relatively deep electron trap levels (electron unoccupied levels) arecreated in the band gap of alumina, thereby realizing highly efficienttrap of electrons and hence relaxing the electric field at the timeerasing, thus realizing a high velocity erasing.

In the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to the trapping layer of aMONOS type memory cell, an electron trap levels (electron unoccupiedlevels) are created in the vicinity of the middle of the band gap ofalumina, thereby making it possible to realize highly efficient writingthrough the trapping of electrons or highly efficient erasing throughthe injection of holes.

Further, in the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to the trappinglayer of a MONOS type memory cell, an electron occupied levels of acharge neutral condition are created in the gap of alumina, therebymaking it possible to draw out the electron toward the substrate via thefirst insulating film (tunnel insulating film) in the erasing operation,thus realizing “over erasing” which provides a sufficiently largenegative threshold voltage at the time of erasing.

Next, various embodiments of the present invention will be explained indetail with reference to drawings. One example of the non-volatilesemiconductor memory device according to one aspect of the presentinvention is applicable to a non-volatile semiconductor memory devicehaving a memory cell of a MONOS(metal-oxide-nitride-oxide-semiconductor) structure. Among thenon-volatile semiconductor memory devices of this kind, theaforementioned non-volatile semiconductor memory device of the presentinvention is especially applicable to a NAND type MONOS flash memorywhich can be used as a high density semiconductor memory device.

The non-volatile semiconductor memory device of this kind is generallyconstructed to have a planar cell structure wherein the cells arerespectively isolated by making use of a silicon oxide film so as toprevent the interference between neighboring memory cells even if thefineness of memory cell is further increased.

The memory device according to the aspects of the present invention canbe classified, in gist, into three embodiments.

1. In the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to the trapping layer ofa MONOS type memory cell, an electron trap levels (electron unoccupiedlevels) are created in the vicinity of the middle of the band gap ofalumina by making use of either a complex of an interstitial oxygen andan Al site-substituting tetravalent cation, i.e. a defect pair(O_(i)-1M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti), or a complex of an oxygen vacancy(V_(O)) and oxygen site-substituting nitrogen(s) (N_(O)), i.e. a defectpair (V_(O)-nN_(O), (n=1, 2)).

2. In the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to a part of theblocking layer or trapping layer of MONOS type memory cell or to a partof a laminated film functioning as the floating gate layer of a floatinggate type memory cell, a relatively deep electron trap levels (electronunoccupied levels) are created in the band gap of alumina by making useof Al vacancy (V_(Al)), an Al site-substituting divalent cation (M_(Al);M═Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), oxygen site-substituting nitrogen (N_(O)), orinterstitial oxygen (O_(i)).

3. In the case where alumina (Al₂O₃) is applied to the trapping layer ofMONOS type memory cell, an electron occupied levels of a charge neutralcondition are created in the band gap of alumina by making use of an Alsite-substituting cation (M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta),interstitial cation (M_(i); M=Al, Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta), or oxygenvacancy (V_(O)).

FIGS. 1A and 1B each show one example of the cell structure of a NANDtype MONOS flash memory as a reference example for explaining thenon-volatile semiconductor memory device according to one embodiment ofthe present invention, wherein FIG. 1A shows the cross-sectional viewthereof in the direction of column, and FIG. 1B shows thecross-sectional view thereof in the direction of row. In this case, thedirection of row is a direction in which the word line (control gateelectrode) extends and the direction of column is a directionorthogonally intersecting with the direction of the row.

FIGS. 2A through 6B show respectively a cross-sectional viewillustrating the manufacturing process of the cell structure shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B. FIGS. 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A show respectively thecross-sectional view in the direction of the column, and FIGS. 2B, 3B,4B, 5B and 6B show respectively the cross-sectional view in thedirection of the row.

First of all, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, by means of thermaloxidation, a tunnel oxide film 102 having a thickness of about 3-4 nm isformed on a silicon substrate (including a well) 101 containing a p-typeimpurity doped therein.

Then, by means of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, a siliconnitride film 103 having a thickness of about 4 nm, a silicon oxide film(blocking insulating film) 104 having a thickness of about 10 nm, aphosphorus-doped polycrystalline silicon film (control gate electrode)105 having a thickness of about 100 nm, and a mask material 106 forforming an element isolation region are successively formed on thetunnel oxide film 102.

Thereafter, a photoresist is formed on the mask material 106 and thensubjected to exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern.Then, by means of a reactive ion etching (RIE), the pattern of thephotoresist pattern is transcribed on the mask material 106.Subsequently, the photoresist pattern is removed.

Then, by making use of the mask material 106 as a mask and by means ofRIE, the polycrystalline silicon film 105, the silicon oxide film 104,the silicon nitride film 103 and the tunnel oxide film 102 aresuccessively etched to form a slit 105 a, thereby isolating memory cellsneighboring in the direction of row from each other.

Then, by means of RIE, the silicon substrate 101 is subjected to etchingto form an element isolation trench 105 b having a depth of about 100 nmin the silicon substrate 101.

Next, by means of CVD, a silicon oxide film (embedded oxide film) 107completely filling the slit 105 a and the element isolation trench 105 bis formed. Thereafter, by means of a chemical mechanical polishing(CMP), the silicon oxide film 107 is polished until the mask material106 is exposed, thereby flattening the surface of the silicon oxide film107. Then, mask material 106 is selectively removed. Thereafter, asshown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, by making use of dilute hydrofluoric acid, thesilicon oxide film 107 is back-etched so as to make the height of thesilicon oxide film 107 equal to the height of the phosphorus-dopedpolycrystalline silicon film 105.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, by means of CVD, a conductive film(word line) 108 having a thickness of about 100 nm and made of tungsten,for example, is formed on the phosphorus-doped polycrystalline siliconfilm 105. Then, by means of CVD, a mask material 109 is formed on theconductive film 108.

Thereafter, a photoresist is formed on the mask material 109 andsubjected to exposure and development to form a photoresist pattern.Then, by means of RIE, the pattern of the photoresist pattern istranscribed to the mask material 109. Subsequently, the photoresistpattern is removed.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, by making use of the mask material109 as a mask and by means of RIE, the conductive film 109, thepolycrystalline silicon film 105, the silicon oxide film 104, thesilicon nitride film 103 and the tunnel oxide film 102 are successivelysubjected to etching, thereby forming the configuration of the MONOSgate stack.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, by means of CVD, a silicon oxide film110 is formed on the sidewall of the MONOS gate stack. Thereafter, byway of ion injection, an impurity is injected into the surface region ofthe silicon oxide film 110 in a self-aligned manner to form source/draindiffusion regions 111, thus accomplishing the memory cell.

Finally, by means of CVD, an interlayer insulating film 112 is formed soas to cover the memory cell.

Principle of the Present Invention:

According to the present invention, the improvement of electriccharacteristics for the memory device through the reforming of analumina-based insulating film is applied to the charge-trapping layer(trapping layer) and/or the blocking layer. The relationship between theobject of reforming the alumina-based insulating film and the principleof the present invention will be explained in detail with reference toFIGS. 7 to 17.

The reforming through the defect control of the charge-trapping layer(trapping layer) and the blocking layer both formed of an alumina-basedinsulating film may be classified into the following three groups interms of the efficiency of electron trapping (electron affinity).

1) Electron Unoccupied Levels which are Close to the Valence BandMaximum of Al₂O₃ (Circled Number 1 in FIG. 7):

Because of Electron traping >> (Re)detrapping, when the reforming isapplied to the blocking layer of the MONOS type memory cell, especiallyto a portion in the vicinity of the interface between the blocking layerand the trapping layer disposed below the blocking layer, it is possibleto realize the relaxation of electric field by way of a highly efficienttrapping of electrons. Further, when the reforming is applied to thealumina layer of a FG type memory cell, it is possible to realize asufficient quantity of electron trapping.

2) Electron Unoccupied Levels which are Deep in the Band Gap of Al₂O₃(Circled Number 2 in FIG. 7):

Since the electron trap is not so deep as the levels of above item 1),it would not raise any problem in terms of charge retentioncharacteristics. Further, on the contrary, since the electron trap isnot so deep as the levels of above item 1), it is possible to executethe efficient erasing by the injection of holes. As a result, it ispossible to apply the reforming to the alumina layer constituting a partof the laminate film functioning as the charge trapping layer of theMONOS type memory cell and the floating gate layer of the FG type memorycell.

3) Electron Occupied Levels in the Gap of Al₂O₃ (Circled Numbers 4 and 5in FIG. 7):

Since it is occupied by electrons under the neutral condition, it ispossible to realize a negative threshold voltage by way of over-erasingby drawing out the electrons, through the tunnel film, toward thesubstrate on the occasion of erasing.

Incidentally, since the shallow electron occupied/electron unoccupiedlevels in the band gap (circled number 3 in FIG. 7) would causeelectronic leakage current and deteriorate the retention characteristicsof the memory, it is required to eliminate them, to electricallyinactivate them or to convert them into defect configuration havinganother depth levels. The gist of the present invention resides in thesepoints.

The electron excess type defect appearing immediately below theconduction band minimum of the band structure of Al₂O₃ shown in theright FIG. of FIG. 8 are defects wherein Si or Hf, both being atetravalent cation, is substituted for Al which is a trivalent cation(this defect being referred to as Si_(Al) and Hf_(Al)). These defectsmay become a cause for the leakage current if these defects are left asthey are. However, when these defects are converted into a differenttype of defect O_(i)-1M_(Al) (M=tetravalent cation such as Si, Hf, etc.)by binding it to an interstitial oxygen at a ratio of 1:1 to create acomplex of defects (defect pair), this defect can be changed into a deepelectron unoccupied levels (circled number 2 in FIG. 7), thus turning itinto a defect which is capable of efficiently executing thewriting/erasing operation of charge. The criticality of theaforementioned ratio is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, 0 eV on the abscissa represents the valence bandmaximum of Al₂O₃ and 6 eV on the abscissa represents the conduction bandminimum. The gap levels indicated by a dark tint in the gap representsan electron occupied levels and the levels having no tint in the gaprepresents an electron unoccupied levels. The results shown in FIGS. 8to 10 were obtained from the first-principles band calculation. As faras the theoretical framework of the first-principles band calculationemployed in the present invention is concerned, it has beentheoretically demonstrated that the band gap will be underestimated ascompared with experimental values. Further, the technique of correctionthereof is also theoretically made clear such as GW approximation.However, since it requires more expensive calculation for thecorrection, it has not practiced the technique in the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a typical example of one-electron levels indicatingelectronic states as various kinds of defects have been introduced intoAl₂O₃. What should be noticed in FIG. 9 is a defect pair of aninterstitial oxygen (O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting Si(Si_(Al))wherein Si (tetravalent cation) is substituted for Al. In the case wherethis defect pair is formed at a ratio of 1:1, if Al₂O₃ is kept in acharge neutral condition without no charge being injected from theoutside, an electron unoccupied level appears at an intermediate depthof the band gap (O_(i)-1Si_(Al) in FIG. 9), and if one electron isinjected into it, the defect can be stabilized at a deep portion in theband gap as an electron occupied level ((O_(i)-1Si_(Al))¹⁻ in FIG. 9).

However, when the Al site-substituting Si is excessively increased to1:2 (O_(i)-2Si_(Al) in FIG. 9), the electron unoccupied levels at amiddle portion of band gap will disappear. As shown in FIG. 8, since theelectron affinity of interstitial oxygen is fairly large, electrons areenabled to move from the Al site-substituting Si where the defectthereof has one excess electron to the interstitial oxygen where thedefect thereof is deficient of two electrons, thereby stabilizing thesedefects. When the number of the Al site-substituting Si is two, thenumber of excess electrons becomes two, thus compensating for a shortageof two electrons in the interstitial oxygen, thereby enabling theelectron unoccupied levels disappear. These phenomena indicate that thecharge trapping characteristics can be determined by stoichiometry ofcreated defect pairs in which how many electrons can move within themtoward stabilization as a total system.

FIG. 10A illustrates the comparison between Si and Hf both employed as asubstituent element for Al site. It will be recognized that even in thecase of Hf, which is a transition metal element having a valenceelectron of 5d²6s² which is higher in orbital energy as compared withvalence electrons of Si which is a typical element, almost the sameresults as those of Si are indicated, from the view of the electronicstates, with respect to not only the energy levels but also theabove-described ratio. Even in the case of Zr having a valence electronof 4d²5s², or even in the case of Ti having a valence electron of3d²4s², both falling within almost the same range in orbital energy asthat of Hf or Si, almost the same results can be obtained.

Next, a defect pair formed of oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and N atomsubstituting for an O atom (N_(O)) will be explained. In a chargeneutral condition where no charge is injected from or released to theoutside of the system, the oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) is enabled to generatetwo excess electrons in the gap. On the other hand, in the case of the Natom substituting for an O atom (N_(O)), a one-electron-deficient levelappears at a deep location (in the vicinity of the valence band maximum)in the band gap. Therefore, the excess electrons of V_(O) can be movedto the N_(O) in short of an electron, thereby making it possible tocompensate with each other for charge. By taking advantage of thisphenomenon, it is possible to create a defect that can effectivelyexecute the writing/erasing of charge.

First of all, in the case of a 1:1 pair (V_(O)-1N_(O)), in a chargeneutral condition where no charge is injected from the outside, anelectron occupied level (occupied by one electron) originating fromV_(O) leaves at an middle portion of the band gap and, at the same time,an electron unoccupied level (unoccupied by one electron) alsooriginating from V_(O) that could not be pushed up to the conductionband appears. When an electron is trapped at this electron unoccupiedlevel, the electron unoccupied level is stabilized into an electronoccupied level again at a deep portion in the band gap. What isimportant is to stabilize the electron occupied level down to a deepportion in the band gap as the electron is trapped. This is because, ifthe electron occupied levels remains in the vicinity of the conductionband minimum even after trapping electrons, it would become a cause forthe leakage level of the electron.

Then, in the case of a 1:2 pair (V_(O)-2N_(O)), in a charge neutralcondition where no charge is injected from the outside of the system, anelectron occupied level originating from V_(O) is no longer left in theband gap. Instead of that, an electron unoccupied level (it is deficientof two electrons) also originating from V_(O) that could not be pushedup to the conduction band appears. When an electron is to be trapped atthis electron unoccupied level, the electron occupied levels isstabilized again at a deep portion in the band gap, as in the case ofthe above-described V_(O)-1N_(O).

Incidentally, as is apparent from the forgoing explanation, if theelectron occupied levels remain under a charge neutral condition in theband gap, it is possible to erase this occupied electron(s) also byapplying an excessive erasing operation to the electron occupied levels,so that it is possible to realize “over-erasing” which provides asufficiently large negative threshold voltage in the erasing condition.

FIG. 10B shows the case of an Al site-substituting Mg (Mg_(Al)) where Alis substituted for Mg (divalent cation), and the Mg_(Al) forms a defectpair of the Mg_(Al) and oxygen vacancy (V_(O)). The Al site-substitutingMg is a defect which is deficient of one electron. Since this shortageof one electron results from a 2p orbital of oxygen atom, shortage ofone electron is caused to generate at a deep location (in the vicinityof the valence band maximum) in the band gap, as in a case of N atomsubstituting for an O atom (N_(O)). Therefore, electron affinity of thedefect is as large as approximately band gap energy.

Since the defect V_(O) has two excess electrons, it is possible forthese electrons to move to two defect sites of Mg_(Al) each in short ofone electron, and to realize charge compensation with each other as adefect pair (2Mg_(Al)-V_(O) in FIG. 10B). However, the oxygen defectwhich becomes electron unoccupied state is not pushed up to theconduction band and still leaves at an middle portion of the band gap aselectron unoccupied level. Therefore, charge can be injected from theoutside of the system. This is different from the case of a 1:2 defectpair of the an interstitial oxygen and two Al site-substituting Si atoms(Si_(Al)) as shown in FIG. 8, where electron unoccupied level resultingfrom the interstitial oxygen disappear. These difference shows that thecharge trapping characteristic can be determined depending on what kindsof the defects are, to what kinds of the defect pair they are converted,and how many electrons should to be moved to the defect pair.

In the foregoing description, the principle of the present invention hasbeen discussed in view-point of the reformation, in other word a defectcontrol, of an alumina-based insulating film. However, this principle ofa defect control method can be, of course, applied also to an insulatingfilm in contact with the alumina-based insulating film, that is, tointerface regions of the insulating films. Especially, this principle iseffectively applied to the case where the insulating film in contactwith the alumina-based insulating film is formed of an oxide, nitride oroxynitride of higher-valent cations than that of Al. For example, in acase where a tetravalent Si-based insulating film such as a film ofSiO₂, Si₃N₄ or SiON (i.e. SiO_(x)N_(y)) is in contact with an Al₂O₃film, the Al that has settled into the Si-substituting site of anSi-based insulating film is enabled to form a deep electron unoccupiedlevel originating from the O 2p orbital exactly at the valence bandmaximum of the Si-based insulating film. Therefore, a structure havingan Al atom substituting for an Si atom in a region of the Si-basedinsulating film, which is located near the interface of the Si-basedinsulating film in contact with the Al₂O₃ film, will bring about ahighly efficient electron trap, thereby making it possible to realizenot only a sufficient trap in quantity of charge but also an electricfield relaxation effect. This indicates that the principle of thepresent invention can be applied to a charge trapping layer.

As described above, by making use of the defect-controlling technique ofthe alumina-based insulating film to be employed in the presentinvention, it is possible to secure desired charge-trapping/detrappingproperties which are required for the alumina layer (electron-trappinglayer) to be used as a portion of the laminate film functioning as an FGtype floating gate layer or required for the MONOS typeblocking/trapping layer. As a result, it is possible to provide a NANDtype flash memory device which is excellent not only in writing/erasingproperties but also in retention (charge-retaining) properties.

As described above, it is very important to provide a defect-controllingtechnique for finding out what kinds of defects should be combined andhow to select them based on the changes in the levels that may bebrought about from the combination of defects. It is clearly impossibleto realize the reforming of the alumina-based insulating film to beemployed in the present invention even if the descriptions of the priordocuments are referred to, such prior documents including, for example,JP-A 2003-68897 which discloses the doping of a tetravalent element intrivalent element metal oxides without any statement on thechemical/physical structure of the dopant element; a document “T.Nakagawa et al., 2006-Spring MRS. P.156 (2006)” which discloses thecreation of a trap not in Al₂O₃ but in the interface reaction layer ofAl₂O₃/SiO₂, namely no definition is made on the chemical/physicalstructure of the reaction layer; or a document “S. Saito et al., the67^(th) Lecture Meeting of the Society of Applied Physics in RitsumeikanUniversity (autumn in 2006), Preliminary Booklet p. 723, 31a-P10-17”which describes that the formation of a trap is originated from themixing of Al and Si, namely no definition is made on whatchemical/physical structure the mixing is realized.

Further, the idea to reform the alumina-based insulating film to beemployed in the embodiments of the present invention cannot be inferredfrom the idea of the prior art, wherein the matrix phase of M₂0₃ typeoxide is simply combined with the dispersed deposit of MO₂ type oxidewhich can be phase-separated to each other, then difference in band gapbetween them is to be emerged, which is then singly utilized forsufficiently securing the valence band offset and conduction bandoffset, thereby generating a local potential minimum of a band structurefor enabling an electron to be trapped therein as disclosed, forexample, in JP-A 2003-282746, JP-A 2004-55959 and JP-A 2005-328029.

Furthermore, it would be clear that the idea of simply using the oxide,oxynitride, silicate and aluminate including elements such as Al, Hf,Zr, Ta, Ti or {Ln: lanthanoids elements} for creating a charge trappingfilm as disclosed in JP-A 2004-158810 or JP-A 2005-5715 could notpossibly lead to the reforming of the alumina-based insulating film tobe employed in the embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiments of the present invention, in order to obtain aguiding principle based on the physical properties inherent to amaterial with respect to the aforementioned defect control, thefirst-principles band calculation without any employment of empiricalparameters is executed against the models of Al₂O₃, SiO₂, HfO₂ andHfSiO₄ having various kinds of defect (vacancy, interstitial,substitutionals, defect-pair), thereby investigating the stablestructure, the formation energy and the electronic states to make clearthe aforementioned phenomena. The objects of the present invention havebeen achieved based on the aforementioned knowledge.

Herein, with respect to the definition of defect levels regarding“shallow/deep”, since it depends also on the distance between thespatially neighboring defects (therefore their levels), it cannotnecessarily be uniquely determined and will fluctuate depending on thedielectric constant of the base material of an insulating film and alsoon the applied electric field. For the purpose of easily understandingthis definition, Poole-Frenkel conduction mechanism may be imagined.Namely, when an electric field is applied to a base material, thespatial expansion of a potential barrier is caused to decrease inproportion to the inverse of the square root of the product of thedielectric constant of the base material and the electric field and, atthe same time, the potential barrier itself is also forced to decrease,thereby enabling the trapped electron to be easily released.

In this specification, the region ranging from 2 eV above the valenceband maximum to 2 eV below the conduction band minimum is defined as“shallow” by taking into account the fluctuation of the magnitude ofstructural relaxation (about 1 eV at maximum) in the determination ofthe levels that has been obtained based on the results of thefirst-principles calculations performed at this time on various kinds ofdefect structure and their charge-trapping levels.

FIG. 11 shows the Gibbs free energy of formation indicating theoxidation condition which is required for preventing the completeoxidation of an additive element in a case where this additive elementis existed as an interstitial atom. This is because, when Si is employedas an additive element, if Si is completely oxidized, it will be turnedinto SiO₂, so that neither the electron occupied level nor the electronunoccupied level can be created in the band gap of alumina.

FIG. 12 shows a band diagram of the neutral condition (a conditionwherein writing/erasing operation is not executed) of the floating gatetype memory cell. The floating gate that has been formed from n⁺-typepolycrystalline silicon is in a neutral state as a whole without thestorage of charge. However, when examined in detail, the n-type dopantimpurity of the polycrystalline silicon is turned, through the releaseof electron, into a donor ion 113, thereby making it possible to keepelectric neutrality under the condition where the free electron 114 inpolycrystalline silicon conduction band that has been released from thedopant impurity atom is balanced with the charge of the donor ion 113which is positively charged.

FIG. 13 shows schematically a band diagram which has been returned to aneutral condition after the execution of writing operation to thefloating gate type memory cell. By trapping the injected electron in thefloating gate, the threshold voltage is shifted to the positivedirection.

On the other hand, FIG. 14 shows a band diagram wherein the conditionhas been returned to neutral after the execution of an erasing operation(FIG. 13) to the floating gate type memory cell. On the occasion of anerasing operation, even after the neutral condition of the floating gatewherein all injected electrons are drawn out is passed by, the draw-outof electrons from the floating gate will be continued. This is possiblebecause a large quantity of free electrons can be released from thedonor atom of the floating gate as described above, so that, even in thecharge neutral condition, the free electrons exist in the conductionband of the floating gate.

FIG. 15 shows a band diagram of the neutral condition of the MONOS typememory cell. In the case of the conventional MONOS type memory cell,electrons cannot be stored in the trap of the silicon nitride filmemployed as a charge trapping layer under the charge neutral condition.

FIG. 16 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of writing operation to the MONOS typememory cell. In this case, electrons are trapped by the silicon nitridefilm and the threshold voltage is shifted to the positive direction.

FIG. 17 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of erasing operation to the MONOS typememory cell. Since the electrons that can be released on the occasion oferasing operation are limited at most to those trapped by the siliconnitride film in the neutral condition, the threshold voltage merelyreturns to the initial voltage at minimum in the erasing operation inthe case of the MONOS type memory cell, so that it is impossible tochange the threshold voltage to the negative direction to a sufficientdegree as required.

Next, by referring to various embodiments directed to the trapping layerand the blocking layer, the effects of improvement of electriccharacteristics for the memory device through the reforming of analumina-based insulating film will be explained with reference to FIGS.18 to 33.

FIG. 18 shows a band diagram in the neutral condition of charge in oneexample wherein deep electron trap levels (electron unoccupied levels)are created in the band gap of alumina employed as a blocking insulatingfilm of the MONOS type memory according to a first embodiment(corresponding to the aforementioned third aspect) of the presentinvention, thereby realizing a highly efficient electron trap andrelaxing the electric field on the occasion of erasing operation. Inthis case, due to the shortage of electrons around the defects, anelectron unoccupied levels are created in the vicinity of the valenceband maximum. Herein, it is indispensable for the electron unoccupiedlevels to be created in a region of the blocking layer which is close tothe trapping layer. Incidentally, the electron trapping levels of thetrapping insulating layer is not shown for simplicity.

FIG. 19 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of writing operation in FIG. 18. In thiscase, almost all traps in the blocking insulating film, which has beenleft in electron unoccupied levels is brought into electron trappedstates. Incidentally, the electron trapped by the trapping insulatinglayer is not shown for simplicity.

FIG. 20 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of erasing operation in FIG. 19. Since theelectron trapping levels that have been written in the blockinginsulating film is sufficiently deep, the ionization energy is increasedup to almost the same degree as that of the band gap, thereby enablingmost of the electrons to remain without being detrapped. As a result, itis possible to decrease the erasing threshold voltage and to execute theerasing deeply and quickly.

As described above, in the case of the MONOS type memory according tothe first embodiment of the present invention, since it is possible torelax the electric field at the time of erasing operation which isdemanded in a NAND type flash memory, it is possible to suppress theinjection of electrons from the control electrode to the trapping layerand to perform an efficient injection of holes from the substrate,thereby easily realizing high-speed erasing. This would lead to thereduction in power consumption at the time of erasing operation.

FIGS. 21 to 23 show a band diagram in a charge neutral condition (FIG.21), a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned to neutralafter the execution of writing operation (FIG. 22) and a band diagramwherein the condition has been returned to neutral after the executionof erasing operation (FIG. 23), respectively, in a modification exampleof the first embodiment of the present invention (corresponding to theaforementioned fifth aspect) wherein deep electron trap levels (electronunoccupied levels) are created in an alumina layer which is formed toconstitute a part of the inter-poly insulating film of FG type memory,thereby making it possible to realize a highly-efficient electron trapand to relax the electric field at the time of erasing operation. Inthis case also, in the same mechanism as that explained with referenceto FIGS. 18-20, since it is possible to relax the electric field at thetime of erasing operation which is demanded in the operation of a NANDtype flash memory, it is possible to suppress the injection of electronsfrom the control electrode to the trapping layer and to perform anefficient injection of holes from the substrate, thereby easilyrealizing high-speed erasing.

FIG. 24 shows a band diagram in the neutral condition of charge in oneexample wherein electron trap levels (electron unoccupied levels) arecreated in the vicinity of the middle of the band gap of the aluminaLayer formed as a trapping insulating film of the MONOS type memoryaccording to a second embodiment (corresponding to the aforementionedfirst aspect) of the present invention, thereby realizing not only ahighly efficient writing operation through electron traps but also ahighly-efficient erasing operation through the injection of holes.

In this embodiment, due to the shortage of electrons around the defects,electron unoccupied levels are created in an energy region ranging fromthe vicinity of the conduction band minimum to a middle of the band gap.The gist of this embodiment resides in the inclusion of electronunoccupied levels that can be developed only when defects are turnedinto a defect pair instead of a single defect as already explainedabove. Namely, these defect pairs include a defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al))consisting of an interstitial oxygen (O_(i)) and an Al site-substitutingcation element (M_(Al)) wherein M which is a tetravalent cation issubstituted for Al, or a defect pair (V_(O)-nN_(O); (n=1, 2)), i.e. acomplex of an oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and oxygen site-substitutingnitrogen(s) (N_(O)). Further, what should be kept in mind herein is thatthe electron unoccupied levels of interstitial oxygen emerged in thevicinity of the conduction band minimum, and the electron unoccupiedlevels of oxygen vacancy defect that has been turned into an electronunoccupied state due to charge compensation with N_(O), have asufficiently large electron affinity, and drop (stabilize) greatly downto a middle portion of the band gap as electrons are trapped by thedefect pairs.

FIG. 25 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of the writing operation in FIG. 24. In thiscase, almost all traps in the trapping film of the charge trappinglayer, which has been partially left in an electron unoccupied levels,is brought into an electron trapped states. As described above, theelectron occupied state (O_(i) ²⁻) of the interstitial oxygen that hastrapped electrons as well as the electron occupied state of the oxygenvacancy is stabilized to a middle portion of the gap.

FIG. 26 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of the erasing operation in FIG. 25. Sincethe electron occupied levels at around a middle portion of the band gapafter the trapping of charge is rendered active even to the trapping ofholes in the same degree as that to the trapping of electrons, it ispossible to restore it to nearly the charge neutral condition by simplyexecuting an appropriate erasing operation. More specifically, byadjusting the quantity of trapped electrons by adjusting conditions ofboth the writing operation and the erasing operation, it is possible torealize a plurality of charge-trapping conditions, thus realizing themulti-valuation of the memory. Further, since it is also possible toerase the residual electron in FIG. 26 i.e. half-occupied(not-doubly-occupied) electron of charge-trapping levels in a chargeneutral condition by simply applying an excessive erasing operation, itis also possible to realize “over-erasing” which provides a sufficientlylarge negative threshold voltage at the time of erasing.

FIGS. 27 to 29 show a band diagram in a charge neutral condition (FIG.27), a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned to neutralafter the execution of writing operation (FIG. 28) and a band diagramwherein the condition has been returned to neutral after the subsequentexecution of erasing operation (FIG. 29), respectively, in amodification example of the second embodiment (corresponding to theaforementioned second aspect) of the present invention wherein electrontrap levels (electron unoccupied levels) are created in the vicinity ofthe middle portion of the band gap of the alumina layer which is formedto constitute a part of the inter-poly insulating film of the FG typememory, thereby making it possible to realize not only ahighly-efficient writing operation through the electron traps but also ahighly-efficient erasing operation through the injection of holes.

In this case also, in the same mechanism as that explained withreference to FIGS. 24-26, since the defects having an electron occupiedlevels at around a middle portion of the band gap after trappingelectrons is rendered active even to trapping holes to the same degreeas that of trapping electrons, it is possible to restore it to nearlythe charge neutral condition by simply executing an appropriate erasingoperation. More specifically, by adjusting the quantity of trappedelectrons by adjusting conditions of both the writing operation and theerasing operation, it is possible to realize a plurality ofcharge-trapping conditions, thus realizing the multi-valuation of thememory. Further, since it is also possible to erase the residualelectron in FIG. 29, i.e. half-occupied (not-doubly-occupied) electronof charge trapping levels in a charge neutral condition by simplyapplying an excessive erasing operation, it is also possible to realize“over-erasing” which provides a sufficiently large negative thresholdvoltage at the time of erasing.

FIG. 30 shows a band diagram in the neutral condition of charge in oneexample wherein electron occupied levels of a charge neutral conditionare formed in the band gap of the alumina layer which acts as a chargetrapping layer of the MONOS type memory according to a third embodiment(corresponding to the aforementioned sixth aspect) of the presentinvention, thereby realizing “over-erasing” which provides asufficiently large negative threshold voltage at the time of erasing.

Further, what should be kept in mind herein is that all of the electronoccupied levels is not occupied by two electrons in the neutralcondition. Because, if all of the levels in the band gap is occupied bytwo electrons, it would become impossible for the charge trapping layerto trap electron any more at the time of writing operation.

However, it would be needless to pay special attention to thiscondition. Because, since the electron occupied levels in the band gapare located higher than the valence band maximum and hence are unstablein terms of electron energy, electrons are enabled to be releasedwithout fail at a certain ratio according to the law of mass action,thereby defects having the above occupied levels maintain positivecharging automatically.

With respect to the interstitial cation however, if an excessiveoxidation treatment is applied thereto, all of the interstitial cationscan be oxidized completely, so that the electron occupied levels cannotbe left in the band gap even though it may contribute to the modulationof the valence band maximum or the conduction band minimum. In thisrespect, the heat treatment after the formation of the charge trappinglayer is required to be limited to a short period of time even if it isperformed at a high temperature as in the case of rapid thermalannealing (RTA), or to be performed under controlled oxidation/reductionconditions.

FIG. 31 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toa neutral after the execution of a writing operation in FIG. 30. In thiscase, almost all of the defects trap electrons in the charge trappinglayer, which has been partially left in an electron unoccupied state.

FIG. 32 shows a band diagram wherein the condition has been returned toneutral after the execution of an erasing operation in FIG. 31. Sincealmost all of electrons including excess electron having a high energyin the band gap existing in the charge trapping layer in a neutralcondition can be released under the erasing operation, the thresholdvoltage can be sufficiently shifted to the negative direction.

As explained above, in the case of the MONOS type memory cell accordingto the third embodiment of the present invention, it is possible toeasily realize a distribution of threshold voltage so as to secure Vth>0under the writing condition and Vth<0 under the erasing condition whichare required in the operation of the NAND type flash memory.

In the first to third embodiments of the present invention describedabove, the explanation thereof is directed to the case where all of thecharge trapping layer and the blocking layer are constituted by asingle-layer structure. However, the embodiments of the presentinvention are not limited to such a single-layer structure. It isbecause the emergence of the charge trapping/detrapping natures ofvarious kinds of defects in relation to the gist of the presentinvention is not necessarily required to be the single-layer structure.What is only required in the embodiments of the present invention is theinclusion of defects and defect pairs comprising such defects as definedin this specification.

For example, the same kind of alumina films may be used as a basematerial and one of the alumina films which is accompanied with theaforementioned defects may be sandwiched between a pair of the aluminafilms which are free from the aforementioned defects, or fine particlesor fine crystals accompanied with the aforementioned defects may bedispersed in the alumina film which is free from the aforementioneddefects. Alternatively, fine particles or fine crystals formed of anoxide or an oxynitride comprising, as major elements, a cation elementand oxygen both required for creating the aforementioned defects may bedispersed in the alumina film which is free from the aforementioneddefects, thereby creating desired defects within the alumina film sideat the interface of different kinds of film and particles/crystals. Itis possible, through the employment of CVD, to impregnate fine particlesor crystals having, typically, a diameter of several nanometers into thebase insulating material.

The aforementioned embodiments with respect to the charge trapping layerand the blocking layer can be summarized as follows. Namely, dependingon the aforementioned three categories and the objects of electric fieldrelaxation, efficient writing/erasing operation and over-erasingoperation, optimum combinations of defects can be classified into thoseshown in the table of FIG. 33.

Based on the foregoing explanation on the various embodiments of thepresent invention, various examples of the present invention will beexplained in detail with reference to FIGS. 34 to 42.

Example 1

FIG. 34 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to a first example of the present invention.This first example relates to the blocking layer of a MONOS type memorycell and corresponds to the aforementioned third aspect of the presentinvention.

A silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulating film,in a channel region of a p-type silicon substrate. Further, a siliconnitride film (Si₃N₄) is deposited, as a charge trapping layer, on thetunnel insulating film. Then, an alumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited, as ablocking insulating layer, on the silicon nitride film. On this aluminafilm is deposited tantalum nitride as a control gate electrode. Further,tungsten is deposited, as a conductive film of a low resistant metal, onthe resultant structure.

Herein, for the purpose of securing not only the writing/erasingcharacteristics but also the data retention characteristics, thethickness of the tunnel insulating film (SiON) was set to about 4 nmwhen the composition of the tunnel insulating film was(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). On the other hand, the thickness of thecharge trapping layer (Si₃N₄) was set to about 3 nm. The thickness ofthe blocking insulating layer (Al₂O₃) was set to about 9 nm. By makinguse of an Al vacancy (V_(Al)), Al site-substituting divalent cation(M_(Al); M=divalent cation (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba)), oxygen site-substitutingnitrogen (N_(O)) or interstitial oxygen (O_(i)), relatively deepelectron trap levels (electron unoccupied levels) were created in theband gap of alumina at about 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects. Thedefect-controlled alumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects createdtherein is enabled to act as a layer for trapping negative charges,thereby making it possible to relax the electric field at the interfaceslocated on the opposite ends of the blocking insulating film during thewriting/erasing operation of memory cell and to minimize the leakagecurrent.

In this case, the existence of the desired defect levels was confirmedby the analysis of hysteresis of C-V measurement performed on an aluminasingle layer which was separately created. The procedures for thisanalysis is reported in detail in a document “K. Nagatomo et al.;Extended Abstract (The 53^(rd) Spring Meeting, 2006); The japan Societyof Applied Physics, 25p-V-15”. However, since it is important inunderstanding the gist of the present invention, the procedures for thisanalysis are set forth as follows.

First of all, the dependency of hysteresis V_(hys) on the film thicknessand electric field strength are measured in the C-V measurement. Then,by means of I-V measurement (carrier separation method), the holecurrent and electron current are measured, separately. Thereafter, acarrier injection quantity N_(inj) is determined from the integration ofI-V curve on I. At first, nFET which has a relation of electroncurrent >> hole current is analyzed. It is because, in this nFET, theV_(hys) is thought to be generated mostly due to electron trap. In thisanalysis, by making use of the electron trap area density N_(e) and itselectron-trapping cross-section σ_(e), the electron density n_(e) thathave been trapped is calculated as follows.

n _(e) =N _(e[)1−exp(−σ_(e) ·N _(inj-e))]

Then, the location X_(e) of intersection between the electron injectionlevels Φ_(e), which is determined by the electric field, and theelectron trap defect levels Φ_(b-e), is determined in the direction offilm thickness to obtain the V_(hys).

V _(hys)=(q·n _(e))/(2C _(OX))·[(T _(Al2O3) ² −X _(e) ²)/T _(Al2O3)]

By adjusting the electron trap defect levels Φ_(b-e), the electron traparea density N_(e) and the electron-trapping cross-section σ_(e) asparameters, fitting is performed so as to make the calculated value ofV_(hys) coincide with the measured value. By making use of the resultsof this fitting (parameters for electron trap level), the analysis isperformed likewise on the pFET. By adjusting the hole trap defect levelsΦ_(b-h), the hole trap area density N_(h) and the hole-trappingcross-section σ_(h) as parameters, fitting is performed so as toreproduce the measured values of both of n-type poly-Si and p-typepoly-Si. This process is continued until the fitting is accomplishedself-consistently, thereby obtaining the parameters related to thedefect levels. By repeating this procedure on n⁺-poly nFET, n⁺-polypFET, p⁺-poly nFET and p⁺-poly pFET, it is possible to accuratelydetermine the trap defect level, area density and trapping cross-sectionof the defects.

Although a silicon oxynitride film was employed as a tunnel insulatingfilm in this example, it is possible to employ a laminate filmconsisting of a stack of a silicon oxide film/a silicon nitride film/asilicon oxide film (ONO film). The usefulness of the ONO film as atunnel insulating film is described, for example, in a document “Y.Mitani, JP-A 2006-13003”.

Further, the silicon nitride film functioning as the charge trappinglayer need not necessarily be Si₃N₄ having a stoichiometric compositionand hence may be a Si-rich silicon nitride film for the purpose ofincreasing the in-film electron trap density. Further, a germaniumnitride film (Ge₃N₄) having similar characteristics to those of Si₃N₄may be employed as the charge trapping layer. The employment of Ge₃N₄ asan insulating film for the MIS structure is described in a document “T.Maeda, T. Yasuda, M. Nishizawa, N. Miyata and Y. Morita; ‘Gemetal-insulator-semiconductor structure with Ge₃N₄ dielectrics by directnitridation of Ge substrates’, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 3181 (2004)”.

Further, the alumina film employed as a blocking insulating film may bereplaced by a film of a laminate structure comprising an alumina filmand a film of other materials which are capable of inhibiting theleakage current between the control gate electrode and the chargetrapping layer. For example, it is possible to employ various materials,such as lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO_(x)), hafnium aluminate (HfAlO_(x)),hafnium nitride aluminate (HfAlON), aluminium oxynitride (AlON), hafniumsilicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate (HfSiON), lanthanum-dopedhafnium silicate (La-doped HfSiO_(x)), hafnium lanthanum oxide(HfLaO_(x)), etc.

With respect to the metallic material for the control gate electrode, itmay be selected by taking account of the work function, specificresistivity, and the reactivity thereof with the blocking insulatingfilm. Therefore, TaN_(X) may be replaced by various kinds of metallicmaterials, such as WN_(x), TiN_(x), HfN_(x), TaSi_(x)N_(y), TaC_(x),WC_(x), TaSi_(x)C_(y)N_(z), Ru, W, WSi_(x), NiSi_(x), CoSi_(x),PtSi_(x), NiPt_(x)Si_(y), etc. With respect to the low resistancemetallic layer to be laminated on the control gate electrode also, W maybe replaced by WSi_(x), NiSi_(x), MoSi_(x), TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x),PtSi_(x), etc.

With respect to the manufacturing method of the memory cell shown inFIG. 34, the process explained in Reference Example (FIGS. 1-6) can beapplied. In the following, only the process which differs from that ofReference Example will be explained.

With respect to the oxynitride film of the tunnel insulating film, itcan be created by forming a silicon oxide film as a base film and thenby subjecting the silicon oxide film to a plasma nitriding treatment.The silicon nitride film of the charge trapping layer can be formed bymeans of a CVD method using, as source gases, dichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂)and ammonia (NH₃) for example. The alumina film to be used as theblocking layer can be formed by means of successive CVD or ALD (AtomicLayer Deposition) wherein trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia (NH₃)and oxygen (O₂) are employed or trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃) and water(H₂O) are employed as source gases. The TaN/W laminate film to be usedas the control gate electrode can be created by the procedure whereinTaN is formed at first by means of a CVD method using Ta(N(CH₃)₂)₅ orusing Ta(N(CH₃)₂)₅ and NH₃ as source gases and then W is depositedthereon by means of a CVD method using WF₆ as a source gas.

There are four methods with respect to the step of introducing defectsinto the alumina film as described below. At first, with respect to theAl vacancy (V_(Al)), the H of Al—OH bond that has been created fromdissociated H atoms in the step of CVD of the aforementioned aluminafilm or from the H that has been derived from H₂O is eliminated in asubsequent heat treatment to be performed in N₂ atmosphere and at atemperature ranging from 450° C. to 900° C. As a result of this step,although an Al—O—Al bond may be partially formed due to dehydratingcondensation, at the site where tensile strain is greatly imposedimmediately after the formation of film, it is impossible to create thisAl—O—Al bond, resulting in the formation of an Al vacancy. Incidentally,a very small amount of oxygen, i.e. 0.1-5% in flow ratio or partialpressure ratio of oxygen may be incorporated into N₂ gas in this step.With respect to the Al site-substituting divalent cation (M_(Al);M=divalent cation (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba)), it can be created by using, as asource gas, a material which is suited for the vapor pressure andselected from the group consisting of HFA complex, FOD complex, PPMcomplex, DPM complex, AcAc complex and β-diketone complex of Mg, Ca, Sror Ba, and then by feeding the gas mixture at a flow ratio of 0.1-10%together with the trimethyl aluminum gas. With respect to Ba forexample, it is possible to improve the sublimating property andstability of souce gas by making use of Ba(DPM)₂(DPM)(Add)₂ (Add=DPM,THF, Phen), which is consisted of a dipivloyl methane (DPM) complex,Ba(DPM)₂ and an adduct selected from DPM, tetrahydrofuran (THF) andphenanthroline. Incidentally, including the case of forming a film by amethod other than CVD, after the formation of the alumina film to apartial or full thickness, a very thin film of the aforementioneddivalent metals or their oxides may be deposited by means of sputteringor these materials may be introduced into the alumina film by means ofion implantation. With respect to the oxygen site-substituting nitrogen(N_(O)), nitrogen may be introduced in the same manner as using ammoniagas in the aforementioned step of CVD. Including the cases where ammoniais not employed or where the formation of the film is performed by amethod other than CVD, after the formation of the alumina film to apartial or full thickness, nitrogen may be introduced into the aluminafilm by means of plasma nitriding using a plasma of such gases as N₂,NH₃, NO, N₂O, etc. From the viewpoint of a depth profile of nitrogen, ifit is desired to introduce nitrogen into a region of the alumina filmwhich is close to the substrate, the plasma treatment should beperformed after the thin alumina film has been partially deposited. Withrespect to the interstitial oxygen (O_(i)), since it would become moredifficult to introduce the interstitial oxygen into alumina film as thedensity of alumina becomes higher, i.e. the number of defects becomessmaller, it would be desirable to employ the plasma oxidation method inintroducing the oxygen as interstitials into the alumina film. However,in the case where a Hf-based oxide or a Zr-based oxide (includingsilicate and aluminate) is laminated in contact with the upper surfaceof alumina film, the oxygen atoms can be easily introduced into thealumina film since the oxygen molecule is enabled to catalyticallydissociate, generating atomic oxygen in these oxides, silicates oraluminates.

It should be appreciated that the manufacturing methods shown hereinillustrate only limited examples, and the memory cell of FIG. 34 may beformed by any other manufacturing method. For example, the oxynitridefilm of the tunnel insulating film may be formed by making use ofhigh-temperature/low pressure oxidation after the formation of a siliconnitride film constituting a base material. The silicon nitride film maybe obtained, for example, by the nitriding of a Si substrate usingdilute ammonia (NH₃). As for the method of forming a silicon nitridefilm which is minimal in defects, it is described in JP Patent No.3887364. With respect to the source gases to be used in the CVD method,the aforementioned gases may be replaced by other appropriate gases.Further, the CVD may be replaced by sputtering. For example, the aluminafilm which is capable of functioning as the blocking insulating film maybe formed by means of reactive sputtering using a Al metal target. TheTaN film of the TaN/W laminate film which is capable of functioning asthe control gate electrode can be formed by way of a sequential processusing sputtering (including a reactive sputtering method) using atantalum target. Further, each of the aforementioned layers may beformed by means of a vapor deposition method, a laser ablation method,an MBE method, or a combination of these methods other than theaforementioned CVD method and sputtering method.

Modification Example of Example 1

FIG. 35 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to a modification example of Example 1(corresponding to the fourth aspect of the present invention).

This modification example of Example 1 differs from Example 1 in therespect of only the features of the blocking insulating film. Thisblocking insulating film consists of three layers, i.e. an alumina layer(Al₂O₃), an alumina layer accompanied with defects (Al₂O₃(X)) and analumina layer (Al₂O₃). The thickness of the alumina film constitutingthe lower layer and the upper layer of the blocking insulating film wasset to about 4.5 nm. The thickness of the alumina film accompanied withdefects was set to about 1 nm. This Al₂O₃(X) layer is enabled to act asa layer for trapping a negative charge, so that this layer is capable ofrelaxing the electric field at the interfaces of the opposite ends ofthe blocking insulating film at the time of writing/erasing operation ofmemory cell, and therefore minimizing the leakage current.

As for the manufacturing method of the alumina layer accompanied withdefects (Al₂O₃(X)), the same method as described in Example 1 can beemployed. With respect to the Al vacancy (V_(Al)), which is one of thesteps for introducing defects into the alumina film, the followingmethod may be employed other than that shown in Example 1. One or pluralkinds of rare gases selected from the group consisting of He, Ne, Ar, Krand Xe are employed as a carrier gas or a diluting gas in the step ofCVD for the formation of the alumina film, thereby making it possible toenable the alumina film to contain 1-10 atomic % of a rare gas atom. Therare gas atom may become a steric hindrance not only against the cationsite but also against the anion site, thereby obstructing the formationof the network of alumina. The defects of the anion site (i.e. oxygenvacancy) can be compensated by releasing these rare gases out of thefilm by performing a heat treatment after the formation of film andperforming subsequently an oxidation heat treatment in order to fill theanion vacancy. By this process, only the cation site defect (i.e. Aldefect) is permitted to remain in the film. As for the rare gas, it ispreferable to employ He, Ne, Ar or Kr. Among them, the employment of He,Ne or Ar is more preferable.

It should be appreciated that the manufacturing method shown in Example1 illustrates only one example, so that the memory cell of FIG. 35 maybe formed by any other manufacturing methods. For example, the sourcegases to be used in the CVD method may be replaced by other appropriatesource gases. Further, the sputtering method may be replaced by the CVDmethod. Further, each of the aforementioned layers may be formed bymeans of a vapor deposition method, a laser ablation method, an MBEmethod, or a combination of these methods other than the aforementionedCVD method and sputtering method.

Example 2

FIG. 36 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to a second example of the present invention.This Example 2 shows one example wherein reformed alumina is applied tothe blocking layer of an FG type memory cell and corresponds to theaforementioned fifth aspect of the present invention.

A silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulating film,in a channel region of an n-type silicon substrate. A polysiliconfloating gate electrode is formed, as a charge trapping layer, on thetunnel insulating film. Further, a silicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) and asilicon oxide film (SiO₂) are successively deposited on the polysiliconfloating gate electrode. Thereon, an alumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited,as an another charge trapping layer. On this alumina film a siliconoxide film (SiO₂) and a silicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) are successivelydeposited. Furthermore, polysilicon is deposited thereon as a controlgate electrode. Thereon, a conductive film made of a lower resistancemetal than polysilicon is deposited.

Herein, for the purpose of placing the highest priority on the controlof stress-induced leakage current (SILC), the thickness of the tunnelinsulating film (SiON) was set to about 8 nm, especially when thecomposition of the tunnel insulating film was(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). This film thickness may be reduced to about4 nm depending on the improvement in quality of the tunnel insulatingfilm. Further, the so-called inter-poly insulating film, which issandwiched between the polysilicon floating gate electrode and the uppercontrol electrode, is formed of a 5-ply structure, wherein the Si₃N₄film functioning as a low band gap layer was set to about 3 nm in filmthickness, and the SiO₂ film functioning as a high band gap layer wasset to about 3 nm in film thickness. The thickness of the Al₂O₃ filmfunctioning as the charge trapping layer which was interposedtherebetween was set to about 9 nm. By making use of an Al vacancy(V_(Al)), Al site-substituting divalent cation (M_(Al); M-divalentcation (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba)), oxygen site-substituting nitrogen (N_(O)) orinterstitial oxygen (O_(i)), relatively deep electron trap levels(electron unoccupied levels) were created in the band gap of alumina atabout 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects. The defect-controlledalumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects created therein is enabledto act as a layer for trapping negative charges, thereby making itpossible to relax the electric field at the interfaces located on theopposite ends of the blocking insulating film during the writing/erasingoperation of a memory cell and to minimize the leakage current.

With respect to the manufacturing method of the memory cell shown inFIG. 36, the process explained in Example 1 and Modification example ofExample 1 can be applied as it is as far as the portion related to thedefect control of alumina film is concerned. In the following, only theprocess which differs from that of Example 1 will be explained.

With respect to the laminate film formed on the floating gate electrodeand including the silicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) and the silicon oxidefilm (SiO₂), at first, Si₃N₄ is created by means of the ALD method usingdichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂) and ammonia (NH₃). Then, SiO₂ is sequentiallyformed by means of ALD using SiH₂Cl₂ and ozone (O₃). On this laminatefilm a defect-controlled alumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited as a chargetrapping layer. On this alumina film are successively deposited SiO₂ andSi₃N₄ by means of the same deposition method.

Although a silicon oxynitride film was employed as a tunnel insulatingfilm in this example, it is possible to employ a laminate filmconsisting of a silicon oxide film/a silicon nitride film/a siliconoxide film (ONO film). Further, the silicon oxynitride film of thetunnel insulating film may be formed by making use ofhigh-temperature/low pressure oxidation after the formation of a siliconnitride film constituting a base material. The silicon nitride film maybe obtained, for example, by the nitriding of a Si substrate usingdilute ammonia (NH₃). As for the method of forming a silicon nitridefilm which is minimal in defects, it is described in JP Patent No.3887364. It is also possible to employ a tunnel insulating film havingfine silicon crystals introduced into the tunnel oxide film.

With respect to the low resistance metallic layer to be laminated on thecontrol gate electrode also, W may be replaced by WSi_(x), NiSi_(x),MoSi_(x), TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), PtSi_(x), etc.

It should be appreciated that the manufacturing method shown hereinillustrates only one example, so that the memory cell of FIG. 38 may beformed by any other manufacturing method. For example, the CVD methodand the sputtering method may be interchanged as desired. Further, eachof the aforementioned layers may be formed by means of a vapordeposition method, a laser ablation method, an MBE method, or acombination of these methods other than the aforementioned CVD methodand sputtering method.

Example 3

A third example of the present invention is directed to one examplewherein reformed alumina is applied to the charge trapping layer of aMONOS type memory cell and corresponds to the aforementioned firstaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 37 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to this example.

A silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulating film,in a channel region of a p-type silicon substrate. Further, an aluminafilm (Al₂O₃) is deposited on the tunnel insulating film. Then, analumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited thereon as a blocking insulatinglayer. On this alumina film is deposited tantalum carbide as a controlgate electrode. Further, tungsten is deposited, as a conductive film ofa lower resistant metal, on the resultant structure.

Herein, for the purpose of securing not only the writing/erasingcharacteristics but also the data retention characteristics, thethickness of the tunnel insulating film (SiON) was set to about 4 nm,especially when the composition of the tunnel insulating film was(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). On the other hand, the thickness of thecharge trapping layer (Al₂O₃) was set to about 7 nm. The thickness ofthe blocking insulating film (Al₂O₃) was set to about 9 nm. By makinguse of either a 1:1 complex of an interstitial oxygen (O_(i)) and an Alsite-substituting tetravalent cation (i.e. a defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al);M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti)), or a 1:1-2 complex of an oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) andoxygen site-substituting nitrogen (N_(O)), electron trap levels(electron unoccupied levels) were created at nearly a middle of the bandgap of alumina at about 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects. Due tothis defect-controlled alumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defectscreated therein, it is made possible to perform, with a high efficiency,the writing operation through the electron trapping as well as theerasing operation through the hole injection. Further, since it is alsopossible to erase the half-occupied (not-doubly-occupied) electron ofcharge trapping levels in a charge neutral condition by simply applyingan excessive erasing operation, it is also possible to realize“over-erasing” which provides a sufficiently large negative thresholdvoltage under the erasing condition.

The alumina film to be used as the charge trapping layer can be formedby means of successive CVD or ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) whereintrimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia (NH₃) and oxygen (O₂) areemployed or trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃) and water (H₂O) are employedas source gases. With respect to the process of introducing defects intothis alumina film, two examples thereof will be described as follows.

First of all, with respect to the complex of an interstitial oxygen(O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting tetravalent cation (M_(Al)) (i.e. adefect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti)), it was created by makinguse of a source gases containing a desired cation selected from thegroup consisting of SiH₄, SiH₂(C₂H₅)₂, Hf(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Zr(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ andTi(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and by adding the selected gas at a flow rate ratio or apartial pressure ratio of 0.1-15% in the step of CVD of alumina. Inorder to promote the generation of the interstitial oxygen (O_(i)), itwould be effective to incorporate ozone (O₃) in the gas. Since it wouldbecome more difficult to introduce the interstitial oxygen into thealumina film as the density of alumina becomes higher, i.e. the numberof defects becomes smaller, it would be desirable to employ the plasmaoxidation method in introducing nitrogen into the alumina film. However,in the case where a Hf-based oxide or a Zr-based oxide (includingsilicate and aluminate) is laminated in contact with the upper surfaceof alumina film, interstitial oxygen atoms can be easily introduced intothe alumina film since the oxygen molecule in these oxides is enabled tocatalytically dissociate to thereby generate atomic oxygen in theseoxides, silicates or aluminates. Incidentally, including the case offorming a film by a method other than CVD, after the formation of thealumina film to a partial or full thickness, a very thin film of theaforementioned tetravalent cationic metals or oxides or oxynitrides maybe deposited by means of sputtering or these materials may be introducedinto the alumina film by means of ion implantation.

With respect to the complex of oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and oxygensite-substituting nitrogen (N_(O)), i.e. a defect pair (V_(O)-nN_(O);(n=1, 2)), nitrogen can be introduced in the same manner as usingammonia gas in the aforementioned step of CVD. Including the cases whereammonia is not employed or where the formation of a film is performed bya method other than CVD, after the formation of the alumina film to apartial or full thickness, nitrogen may be introduced into the aluminafilm by means of plasma nitridation using a plasma of such gases as N₂,NH₃, NO, N₂O, etc. From the viewpoint of a depth profile of nitrogen, ifit is desired to introduce nitrogen into a region of the alumina filmwhich is close to the substrate, the plasma treatment should beperformed after the thin alumina film has been partially deposited.

Further, the alumina film employed as the charge trapping layer may bereplaced by a film of a laminate structure including an alumina film anda film of other materials which are capable of atoms the generation ofinterstitial oxygen as described above. For example, it is possible toemploy various materials, including lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO_(x)),hafnium oxide (HfO₂), hafnium aluminate (HfAlO_(x)), hafnium nitridealuminate (HfAlON), aluminium oxynitride (AlON), hafnium silicate(HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate (HfSiON), lanthanum-doped hafniumsilicate (La-doped HfSiO_(x)), hafnium lanthanum oxide (HfLaO_(x)), andzirconium-based materials which can be derived by substituting Zr for Hfin the above-described hafnium-based materials, etc. With respect to thesource gases to be employed in the CVD method, it is possible to employan amine-based gas such as Zr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Zr[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Zr[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄,Hf[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Hf[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, etc. It is also possibleto employ other kinds of source gases in place of the above-describedgases.

With respect to the metallic material for the control gate electrode, itmay be selected by taking account of the work function, the specificresistivity and the reactivity thereof with the blocking insulatingfilm. Therefore, TaN_(x) may be replaced by various kinds of metallicmaterials, such as TaN_(x), WN_(x), TiN_(x), HfN_(x), TaSi_(x)N_(y),TaC_(x), WC_(x), TaSi_(x)C_(y)N_(z), Ru, W, WSi_(x), NiSi_(x), CoSi_(x),PtSi_(x), NiPt_(x)Si_(y), etc. With respect to the low resistancemetallic layer to be laminated on the control gate electrode also, W maybe replaced by WSi_(x), NiSix, MoSix, TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), etc.

Modification Example of Example 3

This modification example of Example 3 shows one example whereinreformed alumina is applied to the charge trapping layer of the MONOStype memory cell and corresponds to the aforementioned first aspect ofthe present invention. FIG. 38 illustrates a main portion of thecross-sectional structure of the memory cell according to themodification example of Example 3.

This modification example of Example 3 differs from Example 3 in therespect of only the features of the charge trapping film. This chargetrapping film is formed of a 2-ply laminate structure formed of Si₃N₄and an alumina layer accompanied with controlled defects (Al₂O₃(X)). Thefilm thickness of these films was set to about 3 nm, respectively. Inthis defect-controlled Al₂O₃(X), electron trap levels (electronunoccupied levels) were created at nearly a middle of the band gap ofalumina at about 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects by making use ofeither a 1:1 complex of an interstitial oxygen (O_(i)) and an Alsite-substituting tetravalent cation (i.e. a defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al);M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti)), or a 1:1-2 complex of an oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) andoxygen site-substituting nitrogen(s) (N_(O)). Due to thisdefect-controlled alumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects createdtherein, it is made possible to perform, with a high efficiency, thewriting operation through the electron trapping as well as the erasingoperation through the hole injection.

The process that differs from that of Example 3 is a step of forming asilicon nitride film on the tunnel insulating film. Herein, the siliconnitride film can be formed by making use of the CVD method using, assource gases, dichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂) and ammonia (NH₃). Themanufacturing method of the alumina layer (Al₂O₃(X)) accompanied withdefects is the same as described in Example 3. The manufacturing methodshown in Example 3 is simply one example, so that the memory cell ofFIG. 38 may be created by any other manufacturing method. For example,with respect to the source gases to be employed in the CVD method, it ispossible to employ amine-based gases such as Zr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄,Zr[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Zr[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Hf[N(CH₃)₂]₄,Hf[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, etc. It is also possible to employ other kinds ofsource gases in place of the above-described gases.

Further, each of the aforementioned layers may be formed by means of avapor deposition method, a laser ablation method, an MBE method, or acombination of these methods other than the aforementioned CVD methodand sputtering method.

Example 4

A fourth example of the present invention is directed to one examplewherein reformed alumina is applied to the charge trapping layer of aMONOS type memory cell and corresponds to the aforementioned firstaspect of the present invention. In this case, fine particles or finecrystals made of/containing of tetravalent cation elements such as Si,Hf, Zr or Ti are formed in the alumina film which is employed as thecharge trapping layer. Due to the creation of the fineparticles/crystals, i.e. precipitates, it is possible to increase thecontact area of the interface between the alumina constituting a matrixphase and precipitates containing a high concentration of tetravalentcation and to expect the effects of promoting, through an interfacereaction, the reaction of creating a 1:1 complex of an interstitialoxygen (O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting tetravalent cation (M_(Al)),i.e. a defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti).

FIG. 39 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to this example.

An silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulatingfilm, in a channel region of a p-type silicon substrate. Further, analumina film (Al₂O₃) having defects introduced therein and functioningas the charge trapping layer is deposited on the tunnel insulating film.Then, an alumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited thereon as a blockinginsulating layer. On this alumina film is deposited tungsten nitride asa control gate electrode. Further, tungsten is deposited, as aconductive film of a low resistant metal, on the resultant structure.

Herein, for the purpose of securing not only the writing/erasingcharacteristics but also the data retention characteristics, thethickness of the tunnel insulating film (SiON) was set to about 4 nm,especially when the composition of the tunnel insulating film was(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). On the other hand, the thickness of thecharge trapping layer (Al₂O₃) was set to about 7 nm. The thickness ofthe blocking insulating film (Al₂O₃) was set to about 9 nm. Fineparticles or fine crystals made of/containing of tetravalent cationelements such as Si, Hf, Zr or Ti are embedded in the alumina filmemployed as the charge trapping layer. Due to the creation of the fineparticles/crystals, i.e. precipitates, it becomes possible to enable thesubstitution reaction between Al atoms in the alumina constituting amatrix phase and the tetravalent cation atoms in the precipitates toeasily take place and to create, at a high concentration, the 1:1complex of an interstitial oxygen and an Al site-substitutingtetravalent cation, i.e. a defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al); Zr, Hf, Ti). As aresult, electron trap levels (electron unoccupied levels) were createdat nearly a middle of the band gap of alumina at about 8×10¹³ cm⁻² inarea density of defects. With respect to the electron trap levels(electron unoccupied levels) created at nearly a middle of the band gapof alumina due to the complex of an oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and oxygensite-substituting nitrogen(s) (N_(O)), i.e. a defect pair (V_(O)-nN_(O);(n=1, 2)), the electron trap levels were created, in the same manner asin the case of Example 3 or the modification example thereof, at about3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects. Due to this defect-controlledalumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects created therein, it is madepossible to perform, with a high efficiency, the writing operationthrough the electron trapping as well as the erasing operation throughthe hole injection. Further, since it is also possible to erase thehalf-occupied (not-doubly-occupied) electron of charge trapping levelsin a charge neutral condition by simply applying an excessive erasingoperation, it is also possible to realize “over-erasing” which providesa sufficiently large negative threshold voltage under the erasingcondition.

Further, the alumina film employed as the charge trapping layer may bereplaced by a film of a laminate structure comprising an alumina filmand a film of other materials which are capable of promoting thegeneration of interstitial oxygen atoms as described above. For example,it is possible to employ various materials, including lanthanumaluminate (LaAlO_(x)), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), hafnium aluminate(HfAlO_(x)), hafnium nitride aluminate (HfAlON), aluminium oxynitride(AlON), hafnium silicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate (HfSiON),lanthanum-doped hafnium silicate (La-doped HfSiO_(x)), hafnium lanthanumoxide (HfLaO_(x)), zirconium-based materials which can be derived bysubstituting Zr for Hf in the above-described hafnium-based materials,etc.

Further, the alumina film employed as a blocking insulating film may bereplaced by various materials, including aluminum oxynitride (AlON),hafnia (HfO₂), hafnium aluminate (HfAlO_(x)), hafnium nitride aluminate(HfAlON), hafnium silicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate(HfSiON), lanthanum-doped hafnium silicate (La-doped HfSiO_(x)), hafniumlanthanum oxide (HfLaO_(x)), lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO_(x)), etc.

With respect to the metallic material for the control gate electrode, itmay be selected by taking account of the work function and thereactivity thereof with the blocking insulating film. Therefore, TaN_(x)may be replaced by various kinds of metallic materials, such as WN_(x),TiN_(x), HfN_(x), TaSi_(x)N_(y), TaC_(x), WC_(x), TaSi_(x)C_(y)N_(z),Ru, W, WSi_(x), NiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), PtSi_(x), NiPt_(x)Si_(y), etc. Withrespect to the low resistance metallic layer to be laminated on thecontrol gate electrode also, W may be replaced by WSi_(x), NiSi_(x),MoSi_(x), TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), PtSi_(x), etc.

With respect to the manufacturing method of the memory cell shown inFIG. 39, the process explained in Reference Example (FIGS. 1-6) can beapplied as it is. In the following, only the process which differs fromthat of Reference Example will be explained.

The process of embedding the fine particles or fine crystals oftetravalent cation element(s) such as Si, Hf, Zr, or Ti in the aluminaof the charge trapping layer was performed by repeating the depositionof the alumina film and the deposition of tetravalent cation particlesby making use of the successive CVD method while controlling the filmthickness and the in-depth profile (concentration distribution) of thetetravalent cationic element. The alumina film was formed by making useof either source gases comprising trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia(NH₃) and oxygen (O₂) or source gases including trimethyl aluminum(Al(CH₃)₃) and water (H₂O).

Then, the deposition of the fine particles or fine crystal madeof/containing of the tetravalent cation element(s) was performed byemploying a source gases containing a desired cation selected from SiH₄,SiH₂(C₂H₅)₂, Hf(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Zr(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and Ti(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and byadding the gases at a flow rate ratio or a partial pressure ratio of0.1-15% to another kind of gases selected from nitrogen gas, Ar gas, amixed gas nitrogen gas and Ar gas, a mixed gas nitrogen gas and hydrogengas, a mixed gas of Ar gas and hydrogen gas, a mixed gas of nitrogengas, hydrogen gas and hydrogen gas, a mixed gas of nitrogen gas andoxygen gas, a mixed gas of Ar gas and oxygen gas, and a mixed gas ofnitrogen gas, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas.

In the case where oxygen is not added to the mixed gas, metallic fineparticles of a tetravalent cationic element will be formed, and in thecase where oxygen is added to the mixed gas, oxides of a tetravalentcationic element (MO_(x): x≦2) will be formed. If a plasma-assistedprocess is employed in this step, not only oxides but also oxynitride ofs tetravalent cationic element will be formed. A plurality of cycles,each cycle including a sequential deposition step of depositing analumina film and depositing particles of a tetravalent cationic elementand the following step of heat treatment, were repeated until a desiredfilm thickness could be obtained. With respect to the control of thein-depth profile (concentration distribution) of the tetravalent cation,it was performed through adjusting the step of depositing the fineparticles/crystals of the tetravalent cationic element(s) by omittingthe step of deposition itself from these cycles, by controlling thedepositing period of time, or by controlling the deposition gasconditions (ratio, partial pressure, temperature, etc), therebyrealizing a desired profile. The step of converting the alumina filmhaving the fine particles/crystals of the tetravalent cationicelement(s) embedded therein into the alumina layer (Al₂O₃(X))accompanied with defect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al):M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti) formed ofan interstitial oxygen (O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting cation(M_(Al): M=tetravalent cation) is executed by the heat treatment to beperformed following each depositing step of each cycle. Since thethickness of the charge trapping layer is as thin as 7 nm, the heattreatment may be executed at a time after finishing all of thedeposition steps.

The manufacturing method shown herein is simply one example, so that thememory cell of FIG. 41 may be created by any other manufacturing method.For example, with respect to the source gases to be employed in the CVDmethod, it is possible to employ an amine-based gas such asZr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Zr[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Zr[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄,Hf[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, etc. It is also possible to employ otherkinds of source gases in place of the above-described gases. Thesputtering method may be replaced by the CVD method.

Modification Example of Example 4

This modification example of Example 4 according to the presentinvention shows one example wherein reformed alumina is applied to thecharge trapping layer of the MONOS type memory cell and corresponds tothe aforementioned first aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 40 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to the modification example of Example 4. Thismodification example of Example 4 differs from Example 4 in the respectof only the features of the charge trapping film. This charge trappingfilm has a 3-ply laminate structure including a lower alumina film, ametallic film of a tetravalent cationic element, and an upper aluminafilm. This 3-ply laminate structure may be considered to be an aluminalayer accompanied with controlled defects (Al₂O₃(X)). The thickness ofthe upper film was set to about 4 nm, the thickness of the intermediatefilm was set to about 1 nm and the thickness of the lower film was setto about 3 nm. The advantages of depositing the metallic film oftetravalent cationic element reside in that the reaction forsubstituting the tetravalent cationic element for the Al site of aluminafilm, which is required in the first step in the formation of the defectpair (O_(i)-1M_(Al): M=Si_(f) Zr, Hf, Ti) formed of an interstitialoxygen (O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting cation (M_(Al): M=tetravalentcation), takes place more easily when the tetravalent cationic elementexists in a metallic state rather than in an oxide or oxynitride state.Since the thickness of the charge trapping layer is as thin as 7 nm, theheat treatment may be executed at a time after finishing all of thedeposition steps.

With respect to the manufacturing method of the memory cell shown inFIG. 40, the process explained in Reference Example (FIGS. 1-6) and inExample 4 can be applied as it is. The step which differs from that ofExample 4 is a step of depositing a metallic film of tetravalentcationic elements. This step is merely a modification of the stepexplained in Example 4. Namely, the deposition of the metallic film oftetravalent cation elements was performed by employing a source gasescontaining desired cations selected from SiH₄, SiH₂(C₂H₅)₂,Hf(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Zr(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and Ti(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and by adding the gasesat a flow rate ratio or a partial pressure ratio of 0.1-15% to anotherkind of gases selected from nitrogen gas, Ar gas, a mixed gas ofnitrogen gas and Ar gas, a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas, amixed gas of Ar gas and hydrogen gas, and a mixed gas of nitrogen gas,hydrogen gas and hydrogen gas. Since oxygen gas is not employed herein,metallic fine particles/crystals of tetravalent cation element(s) areenabled to be formed, so that it is possible to deposit a metallic filmof a tetravalent cation element(s) having a desired thickness byrepeating only the deposition step of the particles/crystals of thetetravalent cation element(s) of the process of the modification exampleof Example 4.

The manufacturing method shown herein is simply one example, so that thememory cell of FIG. 40 may be created by any other manufacturingmethods. With respect to the source gases to be employed in the CVDmethod, it is possible to employ other kinds of source gases. Forexample, the alumina film was formed by making use of either sourcegases comprising trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia (NH₃) and oxygen(O₂) or source gases including trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃) and water(H₂O). The deposition of the tetravalent cation film may be executed bymeans of the CVD method wherein an amine-based gas such asZr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Zr[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Zr[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄,Hf[N(CH₃)₂]₄, and Hf[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄; Ti(DPM)₃, etc. is employed as asource gases. With respect to the formation of the blocking insulatingfilm and metal electrodes, the sputtering method may be replaced by theCVD method.

Example 5

FIG. 41 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to a fifth example of the present invention.This example is directed to one example wherein reformed alumina isapplied to the blocking layer of an FG type memory cell and correspondsto the aforementioned second aspect of the present invention.

A silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulating film,in a channel region of an n-type silicon substrate. Further, apolysilicon floating gate electrode is formed as a charge trapping layeron the tunnel insulating film. On this floating gate electrode, asilicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) and a silicon oxide film (SiO₂) aresuccessively formed. On this resultant structure, an alumina film(Al₂O₃) is further deposited as a charge trapping layer. On this aluminafilm, a silicon oxide film (SiO₂) and a silicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) aresuccessively formed. Then, polysilicon is deposited as a control gateelectrode. Further, a conductive film of a low resistant metal isdeposited on the resultant structure.

Herein, for the purpose of giving the highest priority to thesuppression of stress-induced leakage current (SILC), the thickness ofthe tunnel insulating film (SiON) was set to about 8 nm, especially whenthe composition of the tunnel insulating film was constituted by(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). This film thickness may be reduced to about4 nm depending on the improvement in quality of the tunnel insulatingfilm. Further, the so-called inter-poly insulating film, which issandwiched between the polysilicon floating gate electrode and uppercontrol electrode, is formed of a 5-ply structure, wherein Si₃N₄ filmfunctioning as a low band gap layer was set to about 3 nm in filmthickness, and SiO₂ film functioning as a high band gap layer was set toabout 3 nm in film thickness. The thickness of Al₂O₃ film functioning asthe charge trapping layer which was interposed therebetween was set toabout 9 nm. By making use of either a 1:1 complex of an interstitialoxygen and an Al site-substituting tetravalent cation (i.e. a defectpair (O_(i)-1M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti)), or a 1:1-2 complex of an oxygenvacancy (V_(O)) and oxygen site-substituting nitrogen(s) (N_(O)) (i.e. adefect pair (V_(O)-nN_(O): n=1, 2)), electron trap levels (electronunoccupied levels) were created at nearly a middle of the band gap ofalumina at about 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in area density of defects. Due to thisdefect-controlled alumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects createdtherein, it is made possible to perform, with a high efficiency, thewriting operation through the electron trapping as well as the erasingoperation through the hole injection. Further, since it is also possibleto erase the half-occupied (not-doubly-occupied) electron of charge traplevels in a charge neutral condition by simply applying an excessiveerasing operation, it is also possible to realize “over-erasing” whichprovides a sufficiently large negative threshold voltage under theerasing condition.

The alumina film to be used as the charge trapping layer can be formedby means of successive CVD or ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) whereintrimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia (NH₃) and oxygen (O₂) areemployed or trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃) and water (H₂O) are employedas source gases. With respect to the process of introducing defects intothis alumina film, two examples thereof will be described as follows.

First of all, with respect to the complex of an interstitial oxygen(O_(i)) and an Al site-substituting tetravalent cation (M_(Al)) (i.e. adefect pair (O_(i)-1M_(Al); M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti)), it was created by makinguse of a source gases containing desired tetravalent cation(s) selectedfrom SiH₄, SiH₂(C₂H₅)₂, Hf(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Zr(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and Ti(OC(CH₃)₃)₄and by adding the gases at a flow rate ratio or a partial pressure ratioof 0.1-15% in the step of CVD of alumina. In order to promote thegeneration of the interstitial oxygen (O_(i)), it would be effective toincorporate ozone (O₃) in the gas. Since it would become more difficultto introduce the interstitial oxygen atoms into the alumina film as thedensity of alumina becomes higher, i.e. the number of defects becomessmaller, it would be desirable to additionally employ successiveoxidation by means of the plasma oxidation method. However, in the casewhere a Hf-based oxide or a Zr-based oxide (including silicate andaluminate) is laminated in contact with the upper surface of aluminafilm, interstitial oxygen can be easily introduced into the alumina filmsince the oxygen molecule is enabled to catalytically dissociate,generating atomic oxygen in these oxides, silicates or aluminates.Incidentally, including the case of forming a film by a method otherthan CVD, after the formation of the alumina film to a partial or fullthickness, a very thin film of the aforementioned tetravalent cationicmetals, oxides or oxynitride may be deposited by means of sputtering orthese materials may be introduced into the alumina film by means of ionimplantation.

With respect to the complex of an oxygen vacancy (V_(O)) and oxygensite-substituting nitrogen(s) (N_(O)), i.e. a defect pair (V_(O)-nN_(O);(n=1, 2)), nitrogen can be introduced in the same manner as usingammonia gas in the aforementioned step of CVD. Including the cases whereammonia is not employed or where the formation of a film is performed bya method other than CVD, after the formation of the alumina film to apartial or full thickness, nitrogen may be introduced into the aluminafilm by means of plasma nitridation using a plasma of such gases as N₂,NH₃, NO, N₂O, etc. From the viewpoint of a depth profile of nitrogen, ifit is desired to introduce nitrogen into a region of the alumina filmwhich is close to the substrate, the plasma treatment should beperformed after the thin alumina film has been partially deposited.

With respect to the manufacturing method of the memory cell shown inFIG. 41, the process explained in Example 3 and Modification example ofExample 3 can be applied as it is as far as the portion related to thedefect control of alumina film is concerned. In the following, only theprocess which differs from that of Example 3 will be explained, thoughit may be irrelevant to the gist of the present invention.

With respect to the laminate film formed on the floating gate electrodeand formed of the silicon nitride film (Si₃N₄) and the silicon oxidefilm (SiO₂), at first, Si₃N₄ is created by means of the ALD method usingdichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂) and ammonia (NH₃). Then, SiO₂ is sequentiallyformed by means of ALD using SiH₂Cl₂ and ozone (O₃). On this laminatefilm is deposited, as a charge trapping layer, a defect-controlledalumina film (Al₂O₃). On this alumina film are successively depositedSiO₂ and Si₃N₄ by means of the same deposition method.

Although a silicon oxynitride film was employed as a tunnel insulatingfilm in this example, it is possible to employ a laminate film formed ofa silicon oxide film/a silicon nitride film/a silicon oxide film (ONOfilm). It is also possible to employ a tunnel insulating film havingfine silicon crystals introduced into the tunnel oxide film.

It should be appreciated that the manufacturing method shown hereinillustrates only one example, so that the memory cell of FIG. 43 may beformed by any other manufacturing method. For example, the CVD methodand the sputtering method may be interchanged as desired. Further, eachof the aforementioned layers may be formed by means of a vapordeposition method, a laser ablation method, an MBE method, or acombination of these methods other than the aforementioned CVD methodand sputtering method.

Further, the alumina film employed as a blocking insulating film may bereplaced by various materials, including aluminum oxynitride (AlON),hafnia (HfO₂), hafnium aluminate (HfAlO_(x)), hafnium nitride aluminate(HfAlON), hafnium silicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate(HfSiON), lanthanum nitride aluminate (LaAlON), lanthanum-doped hafniumsilicate (La-doped HfSiO_(X)), hafnium lanthanum oxide (HfLaO_(x)), etc.

With respect to the low resistance metallic layer to be laminated on thecontrol gate electrode also, W may be replaced by WSi_(x), NiSi_(x),MoSi_(x), TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x). PtSi_(x), etc.

Example 6

A sixth example of the present invention is directed to one examplewherein reformed alumina is applied to the charge trapping layer of aMONOS type memory cell and corresponds to the aforementioned sixthaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 42 illustrates a main portion of the cross-sectional structure ofthe memory cell according to this example.

A silicon oxynitride film (SiON) is formed, as a tunnel insulating film,in a channel region of a p-type silicon substrate. Further, an aluminafilm (Al₂O₃) is deposited on the tunnel insulating film. Then, analumina film (Al₂O₃) is deposited thereon as a blocking insulatinglayer. On this alumina film is deposited tantalum carbide as a controlgate electrode. Further, tungsten is deposited, as a conductive film oflow resistant metal, on the resultant structure.

Herein, for the purpose of securing not only the writing/erasingcharacteristics but also the data retention characteristics, thethickness of the tunnel insulating film (SiON) was set to about 4 nm,especially when the composition of the tunnel insulating film was(SiO₂)_(0.8).(Si₃N₄)_(0.2). On the other hand, the thickness of thecharge trapping layer (Al₂O₃) was set to about 7 nm. The thickness ofthe blocking insulating film (Al₂O₃) was set to about 9 nm. In the caseof applying alumina (Al₂O₃) to the trapping layer of the MONOS typememory cell, electron occupied levels were created in the band gap ofalumina of the charge trapping layer at about 3×10¹³ cm⁻² in areadensity of defects by making use of an Al site-substituting teltavalentor pentavalent cation (M_(Al): M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta),interstitial trivalent, tetravalent or pentavalent cation (M_(i): M═Al,Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta) or oxygen vacancy (V_(O)). Since thisdefect-controlled alumina (Al₂O₃(X)) layer having the defects createdtherein is enabled to have electron occupied levels in a charge neutralcondition in the band gap, it is made possible to draw out the electronstoward the substrate through the first insulating film (tunnelinsulating film) under the erasing condition, thereby realizing the“over-erasing” which provides a sufficiently large negative thresholdvoltage at the time of erasing.

The alumina film to be used as the charge trapping layer can be formedby means of successive CVD or ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) whereintrimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃), ammonia (NH₃) and oxygen (O₂) areemployed or trimethyl aluminum (Al(CH₃)₃) and water (H₂O) are employedas source gases. With respect to the process of introducing defects intothis alumina film, two examples thereof will be described as follows.

First of all, with respect to the oxygen vacancy (V_(O)), the conditionsfor oxidation/reduction are adjusted in the formation of the aluminafilm. Specifically, the partial pressure ratio or the flow rate ratiobetween oxygen (O₂) and ammonia (NH₃) or the partial pressure ratio orthe flow rate ratio between H₂O and H₂ is adjusted, thereby making itpossible, in terms of the conditions for oxidation/reduction, to set aH₂/H₂O ratio as a function of process temperature. Typically, whenoxygen and ammonia are employed, the content of oxygen is set to 5-40%in the aforementioned ratio. When H₂O and inert carrier gas areemployed, the content of H₂ is preferably set to 1-20% in theaforementioned ratio. With respect to the Al site-substitutingteltavalent or pentavalent cation (M_(Al): M=Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta)and the interstitial trivalent, teltavalent or pentavalent cation(M_(i): M═Al, Si, Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Nb, Ta), they are concurrentlyintroduced into the alumina in practice. As the source gases to beemployed in the step of CVD of alumina, it may be selected frommaterials suited for the vapor pressure, specific examples thereofincluding at least one material of tetravalent cations such as SiH₄,SiH₂(C₂H₅)₂, Hf(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Zr(OC(CH₃)₃)₄, Ti(OC(CH₃)₃)₄ and Ti(DPM)₃and at least one material of pentavalent cations such as the HFAcomplex, FOD complex, PPM complex, DPM complex, AcAc complex andβ-diketone complex of V, Nb and Ta. With respect to the Nb complex, itis possible to employ, for the purpose of improving the sublimatingproperty and stability of source gas, Nb(DPM)₂(DPM)(Add)₂ (Add=DPM, THF,Phen) which is consisted of dipyvaloylmethane (DPM) complex, Nb(DPM)₄and an adduct selected from DPM, tetrahydrofuran (THF) andphenanthroline (Phen). Gases containing desired cation(s) selected fromthe above-described materials are fed at a flow rate ratio or a partialpressure ratio of 0.1-15% in relation to trimethyl aluminum gas. In thiscase, the generation of interstitial oxygen (O_(i)) is required tosuppress in contrast to the third embodiment. This is because an oxygenvacancy may be caused to be compensated (buried) by the interstitialoxygen. Therefore, the addition of an oxidizing agent with highoxidizing potential, such as ozone (O₃) or N₂O, is not preferable. Sinceit may become more difficult to introduce interstitial oxygen intoalumina as the density of alumina becomes higher (i.e. the quantity ofdefect becomes smaller), the deposition temperature of the alumina filmis preferably higher, as long as a continuous film can be formed. Morespecifically, the substrate temperature is preferably confined to 600°C.-800° C. In the case where Hf or Zr is employed as a tetravalentcation, if Hf-based oxide or Zr-based oxide (including silicate andaluminate) is caused to generate, oxygen atoms are enabled tocatalytically dissociate from these oxides, silicates or aluminatesgenerating atomic oxygen, thereby promoting the compensation of theoxygen vacancy. In order to prevent such a phenomenon, it is imperativeto adjust the conditions of oxidation/reduction. Therefore, FIG. 11shows the temperature range as a Gibbs free energy of formation oftypical oxide in this invention. Incidentally, including the case wherethe formation of film is performed by a method other than the CVDmethod, the aforementioned Al, tetravalent cation or pentavalent cationmay be introduced by means of ion implantation after the alumina filmhas been partially or completely deposited in terms of film thickness.

Further, the alumina film employed as the charge trapping layer may bereplaced by a film of a laminate structure including an alumina film anda film of other materials which are capable of promoting the generationof interstitial oxygen atoms as described above. For example, it ispossible to employ various materials, such as lanthanum aluminate(LaAlO_(x)), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), hafnium aluminate (HfAlO_(x)),hafnium nitride aluminate (HfAlON), aluminium oxynitride (AlON), hafniumsilicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium nitride silicate (HfSiON), lanthanum-dopedhafnium silicate (La-doped HfSiO_(x)), hafnium lanthanum oxide(HfLaO_(x)), and zirconium-based materials, which can be derived bysubstituting Zr for Hf in the above-described hafnium-based materials,etc. With respect to the source gases to be employed in the CVD method,it is possible to employ amine-based gas such as Zr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄,Zr[N(CH₃)₂]₄, Zr[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, Hf[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄, Hf[N(CH₃)₂]₄,Hf[N(C₂H₅)CH₃]₄, etc. It is also possible to employ other kinds ofsource gases, such as Ti(DPM)₃, etc. in place of the above-describedgases.

With respect to the metallic material for the control gate electrode, itmay be selected by taking account of the work function and thereactivity thereof with the blocking insulating film. Therefore, TaNxmay be replaced by various kinds of metallic materials, such as TaN_(x),WN_(x), TiN_(x), HfN_(x), TaSi_(x)N_(y), TaC_(x), WC_(x),TaSi_(x)C_(y)N_(z), Ru, W, WSi_(x), NiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), PtSi_(x),NiPt_(x)Si_(y), etc. With respect to the low resistance metallic layerto be laminated on the control gate electrode also, W may be replaced byWSi_(x), NiSi_(x), MoSi_(x), TiSi_(x), CoSi_(x), PtSi_(x), etc.

The examples explained above can be applied to a non-volatilesemiconductor memory device provided with a memory cell where the chargetrapping layer thereof is created from an insulating film, especially toa flash memory having a NAND type element structure.

Further, the above-described examples can be applied to a NOR type, anAND type or a DINOR type non-volatile semiconductor memory device, to aNANO type flash memory combined advantages of both NOR type and NANDtype devices, and also to a 3 Tr-NAND type device wherein one memorycell is sandwiched by a pair of selecting transistors.

The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned examples, andeach of constituent components may be modified without departing fromthe gist of the present invention. For example, the charge trappinglayer and the blocking layer may be respectively constituted by aplurality of layers. Further, these layers may be continuously changedin composition around the boundary interfaces thereof. Further, thestack gate structure of the present invention is not necessarily createdon a Si substrate. For example, the stack gate structure of the presentinvention may be created in a well formed in the Si substrate.

The stack gate structure of the present invention may be created on aSiGe substrate, a Ge substrate, a SiGeC substrate, a well formed in anyof these substrates other than the Si substrate. Alternatively, thestack gate structure of the present invention may be created on an SOI(Silicon On Insulator) substrate where a thin-film semiconductor isformed on an insulating film, an SGOI (Silicon-Germanium On Insulator)substrate, a GOI (Germanium On Insulator) substrate or a well formed inany of these substrates.

Further, a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in theabove-described embodiments may be optionally combined to create variousinventions. For example, some of constituent elements may be omittedfrom the entire constituent elements disclosed in these embodiments.Furthermore, the constituent elements described in different embodimentsmay be optionally combined.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1.-12. (canceled)
 13. A MONOS non-volatile semiconductor memory device,comprising: source/drain regions formed in a semiconductor substrate; afirst gate insulating layer formed on a channel region located betweenthe source/drain regions; a first charge trapping layer formed on thefirst gate insulating layer; a second gate insulating layer formed onthe first charge trapping layer, having a larger film thickness thanthat of the first gate insulating layer, and comprising an insulatingfilm comprising Al and O as major elements, wherein: the insulating filmcomprises a first insulating film, a second insulating film formed onthe first insulating film and functioning as a second charge trappinglayer, and a third insulating film formed on the second insulating filmand having a larger thickness than that of the first gate insulatinglayer, the second insulating film comprises Al and O as major elements,and comprises an Al vacancy, an interstitial O atom, an N atomsubstituting for O atom, or a divalent cationic atom substituting for Alatom, the second insulating film has electron unoccupied levels within arange of 2 eV from the valence band maximum of Al₂O₃; and a controllingelectrode formed on the second gate insulating layer.
 14. The memorydevice according to claim 13, wherein the electron unoccupied levelshave an area density of less than 8×10¹³/cm² and more than 8×10¹¹/cm².15. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein the divalentcationic atom is comprised in the insulating film to form a uniformsolid solution.
 16. The memory device according to claim 13, wherein thedivalent cationic atom is present and is an atom selected from the groupconsisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba. 17.-20. (canceled)
 21. The memorydevice according to claim 13, wherein the divalent cationic atom isdispersed in the insulating film as an oxide or oxynitride.
 22. Thememory device according to claim 13, wherein the divalent cationic atomis present and is Mg.
 23. The memory device according to claim 13,wherein the divalent cationic atom is present and is Ca.
 24. The memorydevice according to claim 13, wherein the divalent cationic atom ispresent and is Sr.
 25. The memory device according to claim 13, whereinthe divalent cationic atom is present and is Ba.
 26. A MONOSnon-volatile semiconductor memory device, comprising: source/drainregions formed in a semiconductor layer; a first gate insulating layerformed on a channel region located between the source/drain regions; afirst charge trapping layer formed on the first gate insulating layer; asecond gate insulating layer formed on the first charge trapping layer,having a larger film thickness than that of the first gate insulatinglayer, and comprising an insulating film comprising Al and O as majorelements, wherein: the insulating film comprises a first insulatingfilm, a second insulating film formed on the first insulating film andfunctioning as a second charge trapping layer, and a third insulatingfilm formed on the second insulating film and having a larger thicknessthan that of the first gate insulating layer, the second insulating filmcomprises Al and O as major elements, and comprises an Al vacancy, aninterstitial O atom, an N atom substituting for O atom, or a divalentcationic atom substituting for Al atom, the second insulating film haselectron unoccupied levels within a range of 2 eV from the valence bandmaximum of Al₂O₃; and a controlling electrode formed on the second gateinsulating layer.
 27. The memory device according to claim 26, whereinthe electron unoccupied levels have an area density of less than8×10¹³/cm² and more than 8×10¹¹/cm².
 28. The memory device according toclaim 26, wherein the divalent cationic atom is comprised in theinsulating film to form a uniform solid solution.
 29. The memory deviceaccording to claim 26, wherein the divalent cationic atom is an atomselected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba.
 30. The memorydevice according to claim 26, wherein the divalent cationic atom isdispersed in the insulating film as an oxide or oxynitride.
 31. Thememory device according to claim 26, wherein the divalent cationic atomis Mg.
 32. The memory device according to claim 26, wherein the divalentcationic atom is Ca.
 33. The memory device according to claim 26,wherein the divalent cationic atom is Sr.
 34. The memory deviceaccording to claim 26, wherein the divalent cationic atom is Ba.